City Hall has officially begun negotiations to buy Anglia Square in a major step towards bringing the site into public ownership.
Mike Stonard, leader of Norwich City Council, said the authority has formally expressed an interest in acquiring to site to its owners, Columbia Threadneedle.
The £300m revamp of Anglia Square, which would have seen up to 1,100 new homes built, along with office, retail and leisure space, was suddenly scrapped earlier this year after its developers, Weston Homes, said it was no longer financially viable.
The city council's cabinet agreed to launch a bid to bring the site into public ownership at a meeting last month but still needs to get a commitment of millions of pounds from the new Labour government if any deal is to go ahead.
Mr Stonard said: "We are looking to buy the site so we can shape the future of Anglia Square in the interests of local people.
"We’ve been really clear that we don’t want to see Anglia Square bought out by land speculators who will either just sit on the land or develop it out in bits.
"We want to create a new Anglia Square featuring truly affordable homes, an eclectic mix of retail and leisure outlets and well-paid jobs for local people."
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City Hall has agreed to spend £300,000, taken from reserves, to carry out assessments and to put together a business case for buying the complex.
But it will also need to find a partner prepared to join forces to redevelop the site - all while it is on the market for £8.5m.
Weston Homes secured permission for the redevelopment of Anglia Square last spring, after years of public inquiries and legal battles.
However, it pulled the plug on the project earlier this year, with Weston Homes chief executive Bob Weston saying delays had pushed up the costs.
He slammed the Conservative government and the nutrient neutrality directive, which blocked the building of new homes, among the contributing factors.
City Hall is hoping to make its final offer to Columbia Threadneedle in the autumn, until which time leaders will be seeking financial help from the government.
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