THE newest development on the Middlehaven site has been taken up, ensuring construction will now go ahead.

The 38,000sq ft Hudson Quay 2 building, on the £500m regeneration development in Middlesbrough, has been secured on a 15-year pre-let by Middlesbrough Primary Care Trust (PCT).

It is the second of five buildings which forms part of the Manhattan Gate segment of Middlehaven, developed by Terrace Hill, and the first taken on by Hertel which is relocating its UK headquarters to Hudson Quay 1. Construction on Hudson Quay 2 will start in August, with the PCT set to move in early next year.

Due to Empty Property Rates developers are keen to secure pre-lets before starting developments, to avoid the tax, estimated to cost North-East businesses £40m this year .

Through the Building on Success campaign, run by The Northern Echo and North- East Chamber of Commerce, calls are being made for full relief to be re-instated to pre- April 2008 levels.

Middlehaven, an 80-acre mixed-use scheme overseen by Tees Valley Regeneration (TVR), is already home to the £70m Middlesbrough College, the UK’s largest zero carbon residential and leisure development, RiversideOne, and Temenos, the biggest public art project in the world.

Philip Leech, chief executive of Terrace Hill, said: “This is a great endorsement of our scheme and clearly demonstrates that, despite the current challenging market conditions, we are still able to attract tenants to our high quality and well located developments.”

Richard Buckley, TVR’s director of development, added: “To be able to stand here and confirm further construction work and committed investment in the middle of a global recession is a huge credit to Middlehaven and to Tees Valley.”