The developers behind Shotover Country, near Queenstown, are looking for an operator for their planned retirement village after ill health forced the preferred operator to review his commitments.
Directors Grant and Sharyn Stalker said a 3.9ha site in the residential subdivision was set aside for a retirement village and it had been under offer with an unnamed New Zealand company.
However, due to the company principal's illness, they were now actively pursuing a new operator.
''While this is obviously disappointing, we are hopeful that other suitable operators will approach us with a view to establishing the Wakatipu's first retirement village,'' Mrs Stalker said.
''We remain committed to the concept and want to assure the many people who have contacted us that we are continuing to drive the proposal.''
More than 50 people were already on the database indicating they would sign up for a place in the proposed village at the earliest opportunity.
Those approaches had been made with no advertising, indicating a ''strong, unsatisfied demand'' in the area.
''In particular, people are hoping for a facility which would not only provide a retirement lifestyle, but would also include dementia and hospital facilities.''
There were people who had indicated interest in investing in a village at Shotover Country.
Their details could be passed on to any operator showing ''serious interest'' in the project, she said.
''We are aware that there are a lot of people waiting for something to happen and it has been a long time coming, with earlier proposals for the district never getting past first base.
''While Shotover Country is the land developer, and not a retirement village operator, we do plan to spearhead the venture as much as possible and look forward to genuine approaches from interested operators.''
