Work on the $2 billion development site stalled in February and Five Mile development director Justin Prain said last month work might start again in July.
Mr Henderson, a Christchurch-based property developer, said yesterday there was still no "firm" date for construction to recommence.
But he was positive regarding the ambitious development.
"We're actually working on all the . . . consent issues, drawings and designs for block one, stage one - the first part of what you can see happening out there.
"We're working with a couple of contractors at the moment."
Recent publicity about redundancies at Montechristo - one of the companies listed on the Five Mile website as a contractor - had been "cleverly worded", he said.
"Montechristo is a very small construction [company] that we had in Christchurch for doing some old heritage work.
"They were geared up to build the Hotel So [in Christchurch], which is 290 rooms, and that's been finished since November last year.
"Having come to a conclusion with that . . . most of the people involved there reached the end of their contracts."
About 12 contractors at Montechristo had been affected, he said.
Two of Mr Henderson's Christchurch developments were also on the market, to release capital, but it was not an indication of financial difficulty, he said.
The developments, Sydenham Central Mall in Colombo St and the Chancery Lane precinct, between the Cathedral and Gloucester St, both have a July 31 deadline for sale.
The Press reported this week the sales could jointly fetch $30 million, but Mr Henderson said none of the proceeds would be put into the Five Mile project.
The plan had always been to sell the Sydenham Central project and the time had come to "release some capital there".
Chancery Lane was a redevelopment site where the concern was "that we've got a heap of redevelopment sites" and working on it would detract from other projects.
