The Gateshead Quay regeneration has taken off. Foster and Partners’ £45m Gateshead Music Centre has planning consent and Laing is due on site this summer. Meanwhile, HBG has started work on the nearby £24m Baltic Flour Mills’ reincarnation as the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Taylor Woodrow is on site between the two with a 200-bed hotel and 20-screen cinema and retail complex. Land Securities is developing the £26m Bridges shopping centre in Sunderland, and Newcastle’s £25m Gate shopping and cinema complex is about to go out for tender.
The booming football business has also had a positive knock-on effect in the region. Gateshead International Stadium is to become one of 10 regional centres for sporting excellence, resulting in a sports dome with a 200 m indoor running track. Newcastle’s St James’ Park £40m extension will be completed by the summer and Sunderland’s Stadium of Light will have its capacity increased by 5000. Not to be left out, Third Division Darlington has just been given the go-ahead for a £15m, 25 000-seat stadium.
Workloads are healthy and there is no sign of overheating. Tender prices remain competitive and there are no skills shortages, as workloads are “bubbling” rather than boiling, says Laing marketing manager Stuart McArthur.
The North-east
There is a little bit of a boom coming up with the Gateshead Regeneration Programme, a new business park and loads of homes Stuart McArthur marketing manager, Laing There is always the complaint that, if you look at the big projects in the North-east, local architects haven’t really had a crack at them Peter Walker partner, Dewjoc Partnership Key projects £45m Gateshead Music Centre £26m Bridges shopping centre, Sunderland £25m Gate shopping centre, Newcastle £24m Baltic Flour Mill, Gateshead Price of a pint £1.75 Price of a three-bed semi £65 000 in NewcastleIt's Sunny Up North
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