THE news that well-known homes developer David McLean has gone into administration is extremely worrying.

McLean is the second victim of the gloomy state of the economy, after City Lofts went into administration in the summer.

The collapse of this company places 300 jobs at risk, and could also throw plans to build more than 400 apartments at Kings Waterfront, in Liverpool, into chaos.

Now the future of this prestigious development is unknown; English Partnerships is doing its best to sort out a solution, but there are no guarantees that anyone will want to pick up this particular scheme at this particularly difficult time.

Deeside-based McLean is one of the region’s best-known construction and property developers, and the fact that the credit crunch has claimed such a significant scalp is bound to make others very anxious.

The downturn in house sales is being blamed for McLean’s demise – what remains to be seen is whether anyone is bold enough to pick up on the company as a whole, or whether its sites will be sold off piecemeal.

It is to be hoped that English Partnerships, Liverpool Vision and the council can find a way of turning this setback around.

That will be a top priority – but it is hard to be too optimistic for the scheme at the moment.

The sole bright spot in this sad story has been provided by Langtree, the developer which had ambitious plans for the former Garden Festival site with McLean. The company is now planning to proceed without its partner, which means that – after years of stalled proposals and failed hopes by other developers – things may soon finally be looking up for this corner of the city.