The former boss of the Vaux brewery has spoken out against plans to build a giant supermarket on the site.
Frank Nicholson, who fought to keep the Sunderland brewery open, also hit out at Whitbread, which sold the site to Tesco, for not thinking more about the impact on the city.
Mr Nicholson said: "I am very disappointed by what Whitbread has done.
"I suspect a majority of the population feel as I do, and are against the plans.
"It was hard enough seeing the Vaux brewery die, but there was hope that exciting new life would emerge and while this may be new life, it is certainly not exciting."
He said Whitbread's decision to sell to Tesco was typical of a southern-based, national company detached from the city.
The brewery closed in 1999 with the loss of 500 jobs after Mr Nicholson, then managing director of Vaux, failed in his bid for a management buy-out.
The sale to Tesco came as Sunderland council was poised to bring in a compulsory purchase order because it was concerned at the lack of progress in redeveloping the site.
Sunderland council wants a mixed development involving retail, leisure and housing.
Tesco has so far declined to comment.
A Whitbread spokesman said: "Mr Nicholson has a right to voice his opinions, but Whitbread would remind him that this large site was empty when we took it over. We did not close it down.
"It is flawed thinking to say we are a southern-based company that is uncaring about the impact its decisions have on Sunderland. We do a lot of business in Sunderland and employ about 1,000 people in the area."