A £200 million arts and leisure complex is to be built on the banks of the River Tyne in Gateshead under plans hailed as a major boost for the northeast.
The ten-acre site will include a 12,500-seat concert arena, conference centre, hotel, bars and restaurants. It will sit between the existing Baltic arts centre and Sage music venue.
Gateshead council will invest £25 million in the project but the majority of the money will come from the private sector, including from the venue operator SMG. The new concert hall will replace SMG’s 11,500-seat Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.
Although detailed plans have yet to be drawn up, it is hoped that the new complex will open in 2021. The council said that the scheme would create more than 500 jobs and provide a boost to the northeast economy of about £30 million a year.
Martin Gannon, leader of the Labour council, said: “We’ve wanted to regenerate and revitalise this key site on Gateshead Quays for a long time and internationally recognisable facilities of this scale have always been our long-term aspiration. Not only will they bring new life to the area, but they will bring new jobs and significantly boost the local and regional economy.”
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Part of the plan is to close the nearby Metro Radio Arena, conceived by the former Animals bassist Chas Chandler, which opened in 1995.
John Sharkey, executive vice-president of European operations at SMG, said that the venture would cement Gateshead Quays’ reputation as a “world-class cultural destination”.