THE Chandlery, an iconic Newport building which was once a celebrated eating place, has been snapped up at auction and could be opened again as a restaurant.

The Chandlery, in the city’s historic and improving Lower Dock Street, which for a decade housed an award-winning restaurant, has been bought by a local property investor.

The building could now be returned to use as a restaurant on the ground floor with alternative, possible residential, on the first and second floors of the historic property.

The substantial three-storey former ships chandlers premises, which very briefly reopened three years ago as a French bistro, has a trade counter to the rear, which is let to Midnight Motor Factors.

The auction guide price for the whole building, which provides a total space of 8,778 sq ft, was raised from £180,000-plus to £220,000 such was the pre-auction interest. The property sold for £240,000.

Experts believe the property, with its provenance of a decade operating as a critically-acclaimed restaurant, could be well-placed to benefit from the current and on-going investment in the city of Newport, in particular at the nearby Friars Walk.

The existing Midnight Motor Factors trade counter, let at a rental of £12,000 per annum exclusive, remains operational and unaffected by the sale.

Keri Harding-Jones, of Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “There was a great deal of interest prior to the sale and during the auction for the chance to buy a unique landmark building on the edge of Newport city centre.

“There were a number of people bidding for the property on the night and we were pleased to get the result that we did. The new owner proposes using the ground floor as a restaurant with the first and second floors possibly converted to flats, subject to planning consent.”

A total of 51 properties were offered for sale at the auction which raised a total of £2,052,000. The next Paul Fosh Auctions sale is on Thursday June 25 at the Park Inn Hotel, Circle Way East, Llanedyrn, Cardiff, starting at 5pm.