Under the conditions of the lease, the developer had 36 months to complete the redevelopment of the Giralang shops, Ms Orr told parliament on Thursday evening.

According to the Crown lease, construction should have been completed by March 12 this year.

But close to a year after a long-running legal stoush over the redevelopment was settled, work is yet to recommence on the abandoned construction site.

Ms Orr said the government had told the developer he was in breach of this clause and he would either have to submit a development application with a lease variation to extend the completion date, or apply for a lease variation to extend the date.

She said the developer would have a case for an extension given the legal circumstances surrounding the lease, and described the lack of progress so far as "disappointing".

"Following these events, I have in the last few days received a call from the developer requesting a meeting so he can update me on his progress," Ms Orr said.

"I welcome his approach and hope it indicates that community engagement will follow shortly."

However the developer's legal representative Chris Wheeler maintained there was no such breach.

He said under the territory's planning and development laws, the Crown lease completion date was extended "indefinitely".

He said there was a financial penalty, but that would only be incurred four years after the initial date had lapsed.

Mr Wheeler said there was no chance the developer would be penalised as plans for the site would be put forward sooner rather than later.

"The lessee has no intention of waiting another four years to lodge plans," Mr Wheeler said.

"The lessee is working on plans that will hopefully be presented in the not-too-distant future. Some people are impatient."

However that extension was not automatic, an Environment and Planning spokeswoman confirmed.

An extension had not been applied for but would likely be granted, an Access Canberra spokeswoman said.

Mr Wheeler said the developer was in talks with a range of prospective tenants but would not be drawn on who the anchor tenant could be.

"Certain people have an agenda and want to know immediately about things that are of interest to them and that's not the real world," Mr Wheeler said.

The redevelopment of the local shops has been delayed for more than a decade after a legal challenge by three surrounding supermarket owners.

Woolworths pulled out of the site last year because of a shift in their national focus.

The supermarket giant reconfirmed they had not changed their mind about opening a store in the north Canberra suburb.

And in another blow to the Giralang community, Aldi said it has no plans to open a store there either.