DLF's South Point Mall in Phase V, Gurgaon is expected to be about 300,000 sq ft overall, with Pantaloon occupying more than one-third of the area. Pantaloon Retail had plans to set up Home Town and Food Bazaar, besides a few of its other smaller formats. A Pantaloon executive claims that they even invested in a travelator at a huge cost for the site, and also built up merchandising and staff in line with their launch plans.

Pantaloon's dispute with the developer could potentially throw the door open for a whole host of retailers to drag developers to court. There have been a few precedents where developers have played hardball with retailers after property development is complete. For instance, in Ahmedabad, the space where Reliance Retail built its first hypermarket, Mart, was originally meant for Shoppers' Stop and its hypermarket format, Hypercity. But the developer demanded higher rentals and the K Raheja Group's retail formats, the promoters of Shoppers Stop and Hypercity, were forced to look elsewhere.

Yet despite such stray cases, industry experts say that most developers don't usually renege on agreements, even if it is in spirit and not in letter. Says Akshaya Kumar, CEO, Park Lane Property Advisors, "Often, developers don't sign a formal contract and work with letters of intent with the retailers. Certainly, some smaller developers would want to renegotiate with retailers, but it seems unlikely that a large serious player would actually renege on a contract."