The future of Ladner Harbour remains unclear after Delta has abandoned a proposal for a marketplace on civic-owned land.

At an in-camera meeting last week, Delta council voted not to proceed with the Quay Property Management proposal for the redevelopment of the Seven Seas building and adjacent Delta-owned sites.

Late last year, the Corporation of Delta announced the selection of Quay Property Management to submit a detailed proposal for the redevelopment of the civic-owned properties along the waterfront that are hoped to be the catalyst to reinvigorate the area.

At the time, Delta said the company's submission was "consistent with the vision for the waterfront identified by the Downtown Ladner Waterfront Redevelopment Committee."

That vision included restaurants, shops, galleries and other amenities.

Quay Property Management is behind some well-known markets, including the Tsawwassen Quay Market at the ferry terminal and Lonsdale Quay Market in the North Shore.

Delta will pay the company $10,000 for work already completed on the proposal.

At the Oct. 29 in-camera meeting, council also directed staff to explore the cost of demolishing the Seven Seas building and retrofitting the remaining platform, the platform of the former Brackman-Ker Warehouse and the adjacent Delta-owned properties for public use.

Council also directed municipal staff to draft a bylaw to create financial incentives for redevelopment on both sides of Chisholm Street.

Chief administrative officer George Harvie said the decision to not go ahead with the Quay Property Management proposal was made after staff toured the area with a top real estate developer in the country. Harvie said the developer's recommendation, given the current economic climate, was for Delta to concentrate on making changes to the Official Community Plan to try and give potential developers an outline to follow.

As well, Harvie said, the Quay Property Management proposal would require an additional $2 million from the municipality, which raised the risk for Delta.

"We had to look insofar as risk to the taxpayer," he said.

He said the Downtown Ladner Waterfront Redevelopment Committee would continue its work in the new year. Harvie said staff is looking into a number of issues, including whether Delta should lease or sell the land, and will report back to council early in the new year.