A budget supermarket chain is proposing to relocate less than 400m away to a site that already has permission for a new Morrisons.
Lidl has announced it is planning to build a new £2m top-of-the-range foodstore at the Goff Petroleum site on Aylsham Road.
It comes more than a year after Norwich City Council granted Morrisons planning permission to build on the same site.
The new proposals raise questions over the future of the company's application and could see both supermarket giants go head-to-head.
It would spark the second round of store wars in Norwich after Aldi was granted permission to build a store less than 400m away from a £100m Asda development in December.
Lidl said its new 29,000 sq ft supermarket would be more than double the size of its nearby store on Copenhagen Way, which it would replace.
Colin Rimmer, regional head of property at Lidl, said: 'We can confirm that we will soon be submitting a planning application for a new Lidl store on Aylsham Road, Norwich. We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their support so far and look forward to receiving the decision in due course.'
The company said its existing 13,810 sq ft store had become 'too small' for its requirements and that the new development would be designed as a 'Lidl of the Future'.
The proposals also include a car park with 187 spaces and would lead to the creation of up to 20 jobs.
It will be the third new store the company is looking to build, with two others on Bishop Bridge Road, Norwich, and in Heacham, west Norfolk expected to open in 2017.
The company is inviting the public to have a say on its proposals before it submits an application in March.
Morrisons was granted planning permission to build a 20,000 sq ft store on the site in February 2014, but work is yet to begin.
Norwich City Council's planning committee approved the site for a retail space of up to 2,500sqm (26,900 sq ft) and a housing development for up to 100 homes. A council spokesman said Lidl could theoretically 'inherit' planning permission for the site, but it would have to submit an identical application.
Landowners Goff Petroleum did not wish to comment on the proposals. Morrisons had not responded to questions at the time of going to print.
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