Construction equipment is off and workers have left what was supposed to be a 21-acre project called Chandler Piazza, a Tuscan-style mall with a hotel, shops, restaurants and offices.

The Scottsdale-based owner didn't return phone calls Wednesday, but those involved in the project, including city officials, said work stalled on the construction site at the southeast corner of Frye and Ellis roads in Chandler.

Plans for Chandler Piazza - owned by Chandler Piazza LLC, according to the Maricopa County Recorder's office - included a four-story Westin-brand Element hotel, a two-story, 77,000-square-foot office building and 31,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

The development's Web site describes Chandler Piazza as having a Tuscan village-style ambiance that "will prove to be a destination center for those living and working in the areas surrounding Chandler Piazza."

That depiction couldn't contrast more starkly with the current reality. Three partially built building shells sit empty without even a layer of stucco.Weeds have overtaken the curbs and roads that were laid by laborers, and advertisements on the site's chain-link fence echo the hopes for a project that started under more optimistic economic times.

Doug Whitneybell, the project's architect, said he recently spoke with the project's construction officials, who said they expected to restart work soon.

Whitneybell said he was unsure why construction stopped.

"I think it's a lending issue," he said. "I don't know the actual details, but that they said they had a new lender lined up and they're getting ready to get going."

Retaining financing in the midst of construction is a common problem for developers, said Anthony Sanders, an economist tracking real estate financing at Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business.

"There's a whole bunch within the Valley that are just literally stranded," he said.

That's because about 80 percent of banks have increased standards on commercial lending due to the implosion in the subprime mortgage industry, he said.

"It's a brutally tough time to obtain commercial financing," he said.

Dave Nakagawara, Chandler assistant director of development services, said officials don't view Chandler Piazza in the same light as the stalled Elevation Chandler project, which ran out of financing in better economic times. Chandler Elevation is roughly a mile from Chandler Piazza. The 15-story tower was supposed to have luxury condominiums and hotel suites but has sat idle for more than two years.

"In this economy it's not unusual," he said of construction halts. "I think the concern is that we just make sure that the (Piazza) site is safe and contained and follows all ordinances and codes and so forth, and hopefully time will change things."