Ye Olde Swiss Cottage served its final pint on February 1 after tenants Samuel Smiths Brewery called time at the pub.
Despite the historic watering hole being swiftly listed locally as an Asset of Community Value, its owner Sarah Elizabeth Atkinson gave six months notice on August 8 of her intent to sell.
Conservation group The Belsize Society, which worked with the Campaign for Real Ale to secure ACV status, have until February 8 to find a bidder to run it as a community local.
But Alan Selwyn from the society says he’s been told it’s “unviable” as a hospitality business.
He said: “We’ve had a few talks with people who run pubs and a lot of advice but they say it’s unviable in the current climate,” he said.
“We’ve done a tabletop valuation of the site and it’s £3.6 million to £4.2 million, which is a lot of money for anyone to raise.
“We have had some vague interest but nothing concrete, and although a recent story about a community rescuing a pub in Dorset was inspirational – we are not talking about the same sums of money.”
Mr Selwyn said the owners have denied them access to inspect the pub, which they understand has been stripped out ready to sell.
Once the six months expires the owners are free to sell it on the open market.
Belsize Liberal Democrat ward councillor Tom Simon believes the pub’s position in the middle of multiple lanes of traffic is an added problem.
“It’s a real shame but if you look at the pub’s location in the middle of a gyratory system, it’s not a huge surprise that there’s not much interest,” he said.
“The world has changed and people are more conscious of air quality and what’s considered a nice place to drink – the site did previously have planning permission for a 21-bed hotel on that site, but who wants to go to a hotel in the middle of a traffic hellhole?
“My guess is it will be bought by a developer looking to build flats.”
A pub has stood on the site since the 1830s, when it was a coaching inn next to a toll gate surrounded by fields.
It later became the terminus for the omnibus serving the new Metropolitan Railway station called Swiss Cottage and has twice been rebuilt, always keeping its Swiss chalet look.
The most dramatic change came in the mid-1960s when Finchley Road was widened and the pub left on a traffic island, surrounded by busy lanes of traffic.
