Norwich's former library to go back on sale after failing to secure buyer
The Grade II listed building – which most recently housed a restaurant called The Library – is being flogged off by Norwich City Council
An historic former library and restaurant will go back on sale after failing to secure a viable offer.
The Grade II listed building – which most recently housed a restaurant called The Library – is owned by Norwich City Council, which wants to sell the site.
City Hall has been trying to get rid of the building and an adjoining former office block, on Guildhall Hill, since December last year but has so far failed.
The authority received Just two offers, with the higher bid failing due to the applicant being “unable to finance the acquisition”.
Until now the council has been trying to dispose of the two buildings separately but will now start marketing them as a package.
The listed structure – 4a Guildhall – housed a library from 1837 until it closed in 1976.
The attached former office block – 4b Guildhall – is currently leased to Jane Austen College, part of the Inspiration Trust.
The trust had initially expressed an interest in taking over both buildings.
But due to the poor state of the old library building – with reports saying it required £600,000 of repairs last year – the trust said it only wanted the old office site, which once housed the Norfolk and Waveney Enterprise Services (NWES).
Norwich City Council officials told a recent cabinet meeting that there had been interest in both 4a and 4b together.
An officer said: “Guildhall 4a is still causing some challenges in terms of the future of it and how we dispose of it.
“It has been on the market we have had some interest but not at a level that would be attractive for us as a council.
“There has been interest in taking two properties together.”
The cabinet agreed to start marketing both buildings as a package.
STORY OF A LIBRARY
The Grade II listed building in Guildhall Hill first opened as a restaurant in 2006 and was run under the name of The Library by city restaurateurs Jayne and Nigel Raffles.
The couple spent more than two years attempting to sell the business, but after they were unable to attract a suitable buyer, took the difficult decision to close it in 2019.
The restaurant served its final customers on July 30, 2019.
Before its life as a restaurant, the building housed a subscription library – believed to be one of the oldest in the country.
The library, which started in 1784, moved into the Guildhall Hill building in 1837 before closing in 1976.
The property was also home to an advice service, before being converted into a restaurant in 2006.