Tom Banner, from Tom’s Shoe Repairs in The Shambles, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that “everything’s been halted”.
“I’ve just had councillor Lisa Evans on the phone, to be honest she’s been brilliant about it all,” he said.
“It’s all been stopped for whatever reason. If we want to stay here we can, and if we want to move we can and we’ll get financial support for doing so.”
He said the new situation “seems to be the best of both worlds” for business owners.
April Williams, who employs five people at the Shambles Cafe, said she was frustrated with the way the news was announced.
“All of a sudden it’s on Facebook, after seven weeks of sleepless nights, customers asking for us, the public fighting for us.
“We’ve suffered greatly in the last seven weeks (thinking) we’re going to lose our business,” she said.
The £6.5m plans for the redevelopment of Stockton Town Hall and the former Debenhams building will be discussed next week.