Hopes have been reignited that plans to convert one of the city's largest derelict sites into more than 700 homes will progress in the new year.
London-based Bricks Group submitted plans to redevelop the former Eastern Electricity Board site in Duke Street into 717 homes in February 2022.
Since then, a lack of movement on the Duke's Wharf project has prompted uncertainty over whether it will be delivered.
But now, following a meeting with Bricks Group, Green city councillor Martin Schmierer - a former lord mayor who represents the area at City Hall - has reignited hopes the site can still be redeveloped.
"I met with the developers last week to inspect the site and chat about their plans for co-living," he said.
"I've got a subsequent meeting set up to go through the details of their plans.
"We certainly need brownfield sites like the former Eastern Electricity buildings in Duke Street to be redeveloped, but this has to be in a way that benefits the residents of Norwich while being mindful of the heritage of a historic city like Norwich as well as our natural environment.
"There is an opportunity for the Duke Street site to be turned into the kind of homes that the city needs.
"We look forward to seeing what the developers have planned for the site and will look to work with them and the local community to ensure they meet the needs of the people of our city while minimising any environmental damage."
The Bricks Group project follows a similar scheme put forward by developers Targetfellow Estates for 69 homes at Duke's Wharf.
Despite receiving planning permission back in 2015, no work started on the project.
The latest Bricks Group plans would see the site - which has stood empty since 1999 and been used as a car park - converted into a mix of student suites, apartments and 'co-living' units, which involve private apartments and communal living areas.
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Most of the current buildings on the site, between Duke Street and Westwick Street, would be demolished and new blocks built.
The new riverside block would be up to eight storeys tall, reducing to five near the homes at Anchor Quay.
The middle block would be five to six storeys and one to the west would be seven storeys.
The Boardman Buildings, designed by architect Edward Boardman would be kept and turned into co-living units, which would be managed by an offshoot of the Bricks Group called Thrive.
The student housing would be managed by True Student, which also provides accommodation in Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool and Birmingham.
The site is also proposed to include a riverside cafe, a gym, meeting, working and leisure spaces.
It would be largely car-free and would feature a new riverside walk.
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Simon Parsons, group brand director of the Bricks Group, said the company hoped to share more news in the first quarter of 2024.
Despite Duke's Wharf being earmarked for redevelopment or demolition in the Greater Norwich Local Plan - a policy which has allocated some brownfield sites for development - some city folk have voiced their opposition to such a large proposal.
The Norwich Preservation Trust has said the proposed demolition of the grade II listed south boundary wall would require Listed Building Consent and argued the development lacked sufficient open space.
Other homeowners in the area described the project as "dull" and "soulless", with some raising concerns about the height of the proposed buildings and the increased pressures on emergency services caused by the "repeated influx" of a "transient" student population.
Overall, the plans lodged with Norwich City Council have amassed 27 public objections.
A history of the site
The development site is close to where the 16th century Duke of Norfolk's palace once stood - hence its name.
It probably occupied the land where St Andrews Car Park now stands but in 2015 archaeologists said it could "not be discounted" that remains associated with the palace complex could lie beneath the electricity board site.
The Anchor Brewery, founded by Richard Bullard in 1837, occupied part of the development site, which was also home to an ironworks.
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At the turn of the 20th century, the Electric Light Company power station was built, to the designs of architect Edward Boardman, who was also responsible for the old Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
The space also includes a warehouse building with all the words of Sir Thomas More's book Utopia on it, created in 2006 as part of an art project.
That building, which dates to the 1980s, is set to be demolished if permission is granted.
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