Property giant Hammerson has sold the Principal Place development site as part of its new strategy of focusing on retail schemes.

A spokesman for new owner Brookfield Office Properties told the Enquirer it was too early to speculate on whether the job would be retendered.

He said: “The sale won’t be finalised until September and things will become clearer then.”

Skanska and McAlpine have been head-to-head since late last year and both received a blow in January when the job was delayed when a prospective tenant pulled-out.

One London commercial expert said: “The worry for both firms is that Brookfield Multiplex is an affiliate company of Brookfield Office Properties so picks-up a lot of their construction work.

“Brookfield Multiplex has a couple of stalled jobs in the city at the moment so it doesn’t take a genius to work out what sort of discussions could be going on soon.”

The Principal Place project consists of a 600,000 sq ft office element and a separate 50-storey resudential tower.