Questions surround the huge plans to build a “world class” arena and international conference centre on the Gateshead Quayside.

Building work on a prime patch of land, nestled between the Baltic art gallery and the Glasshouse International Centre for Music, was meant to start in autumn 2023 but there has been no sign of construction beginning.

The project has been in the works for years and has suffered a number of setbacks, with its estimated costs having spiralled from an original £260 million to more than £350 million.

Gateshead Council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week that it hopes to issue an update “later in the summer” on the future of one of the biggest prospective developments in the North East. 

However, the authority was unable to provide an explanation for the latest delays or an updated timescale for building work and the opening of what will be known as the Sage International Conference Centre and Sage Arena.

Original designs for the riverside leisure, entertainment, and business complex were approved in late 2020, but had to be redrawn as the development was hit with soaring construction costs – particularly as a result of the rising price of steel.

Uncertainty over the costs of the project meant that the plans were redrawn, removing a large hotel from the side of the conference centre, and forced Gateshead Council to seek financial help from the Government.

A £20 million grant from the Levelling Up Fund was approved at the second time of asking in January 2023, while a £3.5 million for the Quayside scheme was among the first investments signed off from the new North East devolution deal in January this year.

After the redesigned proposals for the centre from developers Ask:PATRIZIA  were granted planning permission in July 2023, the council said that construction was due to begin in the autumn – with the land already having been cleared for the works.

It was announced then that the conference centre would open in Autumn 2025, as would the hotel after its relocation to a nearby plot  at the corner of Quarryfield Road and Hawks Road, with the 12,500-capacity Sage Arena not ready to open until 2027.

A subsequent report to the North of Tyne Combined Authority this January then noted that building work would start in spring 2024, another target that has since been missed, and there have been no updates issued on how the proposed opening dates have been affected by the continuing delays.

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Anneliese Hutchinson, Gateshead Council’s interim strategic director for economy, innovation, and growth, said: “Planning permission has been granted for the quays, conference centre and associated development.

"We are currently working with our partners on the final details of the delivery strategy to bring these exciting regionally important developments forward. We hope to be in a position to provide further updates later in the summer.”

The project has been hailed as a “world class” development that will bring in over a million visitors a year, generate a £70 million boost for the region’s economy, and create 2,000 jobs.

The arena will act as a replacement for the existing Utilita Arena in Newcastle, while software giant Sage has bought the naming rights for the new venue – leading to the Sage Gateshead concert hall being rebranded as the Glasshouse.