Woolworths has confirmed the almost complete development just off the Princes Highway at South Nowra will not go ahead.

Questions over the complex’s future were raised on Monday when parent company Woolworths announced it was looking to either sell or wind up Masters and Home Timber and Hardware after heavy losses.

Woolworths bought out  joint venture partner Lowe's Companies Inc and plans to pull the plug on its loss-making home improvement business Masters.

That news left questions over the South Nowra development.

In a statement Masters said it was committed to doing the right thing by its landlords and developers.

“We will be dealing with sites where construction is planned or under way on a case-by-case basis,”  a spokesperson said in a two line release from the company.

But in a later email the company confirmed the South Nowra store would not open.

Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns said in November Woollies couldn't continue to lose $200 million a year on Masters and that the board would make a decision in the New Year.

Masters stores are losing $78,000 a week based on the latest losses reported by the embattled hardware operation's US joint venture partner Lowe's.

Based on Lowe's latest financials reported in the US, Deutsche Bank estimates the Masters JV lost $67.5 million before tax in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.

Lowe's has a one third stake in Masters and a put option, which it could use to compel Woolworths to buy back its interest as long as it gives 13 months notice.

It's not clear what this put option is valued at but analysts have suggested it could be worth up to $1 billion.

Lowe's latest results push the losses on Masters out to about $US138 million for the nine months to October 30 but the joint-venture with Woolworths has sunk $3.3 billion into the business.

There are 63 Masters stores in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT, with unions saying Woolworths' looming sale or closure of its Masters hardware chain had left 10,000 workers and their families facing an "uncertain future".

The South Nowra store was seen as a major boost for local jobs and the economy.

In July this year is was announced the South Nowra site had sold for what was believed to be a record in the Shoalhaven of more than $32 million.

The site, previously owned by a private development company from Sydney, sold for $32.5 million to a private equity firm called APN Property Group.

The sale included the land, which is the construction site of a new Masters Home Improvement Store, as well as a Shell Fuel Coles Express convenience store and a Subway outlet, and a Hungry Jack’s fast food complex, which have all opened.

Shoalhaven Mayor Joanna Gash said she was disappointed by the demise of Masters.

“I always wondered about the development because it was no secret Masters was having difficulty.

“But something like this that was going to help local employment, we tried to assist them,” she said.

APN acquired a 100 per cent interest in the site and development on completion, which was to return $2,260,037 net rent per annum.

Each of the business at the site has 15-year leases.

The sale of the 35,072 square metre property equates to $903 per square metre.

The Masters Home Improvement Store was to have a gross floor area of approximately 13,134 square metres. Work started late last year and it was expected to open in July.

The site had been previously owned by Bing Lee who bought it from local company Newchem in 2003. Bing Lee sold the location the Sydney company in 2013 for close to $5 million.