The former Oriental Star Buffet building is pictured in Brooklyn Square. The building will remain standing a while longer as Northwest Bank officials reconsider a plan to build a new bank branch on the site. P-J file photo

A new Northwest Bank branch in Brooklyn Square is on hold, city officials told The Post-Journal on Thursday.

But, the prospects for the project moving forward don’t look good.

WRFA-LP reported Thursday the bank had pulled out of the project. Jamestown Planning Commission members briefly discussed the matter during its meeting Tuesday. Ellen Shadle, city planner, told commission members the bank pulled out of the project, but that was the only mention of the project during Tuesday’s meeting.

Another city official told The Post-Journal the project has been delayed as the bank reviews its operations. Northwest Bank officials had planned to close the retail operation of its location at Third and Main streets, though offices would remain at the downtown site. The retail bank would then move to Brooklyn Square in a more modern building with a drive-through.

The Northwest Bank project’s site plan had been approved by the city Planning Commission in April with construction scheduled to begin this fall.

While it’s not known what led to Northwest Bank’s decision to end the project, there are a couple of potential factors that may have played a role.

One is Brooklyn Square’s role in the city’s homeless crisis. The area was the focus of a targeted sweep to remove a group of the homeless from the area surrounding the former Oriental Star restaurant on Wednesday morning. That followed an earlier sweep to remove homeless people in early August. Many Brooklyn Square businesses have begun locking bathrooms or requiring buzzers to enter as a result of what’s happening along the Riverwalk.

In addition to being a congregating area for the homeless over the past few years, city Planning Commission members raised potential issues with the site during a meeting earlier this year. Site plan approval for the Northwest Bank project was tabled during the Planning Commission’s March meeting after questions arose for the site about potential state DEC approvals that may be necessary given the site’s status as a former brownfield cleanup site and its proximity to the Chadakoin River.

The main holdup on approval is the potential involvement of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which commission member Greg Lindquist said may be required because of agreements from the original cleanup of the site from manufacturing to retail as part of the 1970s urban renewal project. Andy Johnson, a civil engineer working on behalf of Northwest Bank, said he wasn’t aware of the DEC stipulation prior to the Planning Commission meeting.