For more than two decades a 'yawning hole' has stood vacant in the centre of the city.
Now the first drill has been bored into the ground of the St Anne's Quarter after months of excavations threw up discoveries which have shed a new light on the history of Norwich.
It has been an ambition to breathe new life into the area since the 1990s, and finally work is underway to transform the patch of land between King Street and Riverside into a new community.
Orbit Homes, who bought the land, have already unveiled their £70m vision to create 437 homes and 22,000 square feet of commercial space.
As part of the deal they have also begun renovation of Grade II listed Howard House - once a summer home for Henry Howard in the late 16th century but at risk of wrack and ruin as it lay dormant for 25 years.
Archeological digs over the last year have unearthed human remains, coins, pottery, oyster shells, animal bones and painted glass dating from the time it was the site of the 13th century Austin Friars Priory.
Their findings shed new light on the religious order which arrived with nothing on marshland on the edge of Norwich and went on to become one of four monastic orders which transformed the city.
Alan Waters, leader of Norwich City Council, said the development marked the final piece in the jigsaw for regeneration of the King Street area.
'In the 1990s we put a lot of infrastructure in and upgraded the area, but there was always one yawning gap on this site,' he said.
'This project more or less completes that initial vision from the 1990s about regenerating this part of the city. It links also with our vision for the south of the city centre. Orbit's ambition has been reflected in the fact this will build a community of mixed tenures. This council believes strongly in inclusive communities which provide facilities for people to enjoy the environment around them. 'We are standing on a site which has been the centre of settlements for hundreds of years. We have a sense of something rooted deep in the history of Norwich.
'There is currently permission for over 4,000 houses in the city, and this is about getting development going. We are working extremely hard to meet our housing need, but what is crucial is making these areas into communities.'
Representatives from Orbit said they wanted to sustain the future of the area, with a mix of housing to buy and rent including shared tenures and affordable homes.
'We have gone through a large amount of work so that we could see this moment and this is the real start of constructing the new development,' said Paul High, executive director of property investment for orbit. 'We are going to spend the next 30 weeks providing the foundations, and when we are finished there will be a large underground car park of around 300 spaces. 'By spring next year we start building off that podium, and towards the end of 2017 we will be able to move the first people in to live here.'
Baroness Tessa Blackstone, chair of Orbit, added: 'We have been working in Norwich for 40 years and this is our biggest project here to date, and our second biggest in the country.
'It is part of our goal to produce housing people will feel very happy in and create a community. We will be putting in a lot of community opportunities for people to take part in events and encourage commercial developments like restaurants and cafes.'
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