The state government will hand over the deed for one of the city's most iconic buildings following the sale of the former Maitland Lands Board District Office.
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The Newcastle Street site, which comprises the circa 1897 Lands Office, went under the hammer at a public auction on Wednesday.
The Mercury contacted real estate agency Commercial Collective to find out how much the building sold for but has not yet been able to confirm the price.
However the sale has come under fire from Labor Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison who had been pushing for the site to be handed over to the local community. Ms Aitchison took to Facebook to criticise the decision by the Liberal-National government.
"They are selling off more of our community assets. It has been requested by a number of community groups," she said in a public video.
In January, Ms Aitchison called on the government to sell the iconic building back to Maitland City Council on behalf of the community for $1. It came after the state government did dollar deals with the vacant Moree Crown Lands office to Moree Plains Shire Council as well as the former Tamworth Crown Lands office to Tamworth Regional Council.
Ms Aitchison said she was disappointed over the sale on behalf of the community, which had voiced an interest in utilising the site as a cultural hub.
"I want to know if the money is going to come back to Maitland," she said.
However, the state government announced plans to sell-off the East Maitland building in July which left several community groups reeling.
Maitland Regional Museum, which currently operates out of Brough and Grossman houses, made a bid to make the lands office its permanent home.
Other groups that planned to operate from the site included Maitland and District Historical Society, Maitland Museum of Clothing, Maitland and Beyond Family History.
