Imagine new hotel and offices

Apr 2 2008 by Graeme King, The Journal

THIS is how the new Gateshead hotel and office development by Priority Sites will look when it is developed.

The regeneration specialist has signed a deal with Starboard Hotels to build a 202-bed Holiday Inn Express, and 40,000sqft of offices on a site tucked directly behind the Baltic Quay flats.

The £18m development on Hawks Road will form a part of the Gateshead Quays development area, with developer Kier currently drawing up a plan for its GQ2 site between the Baltic and The Sage Gateshead.

It is understood that, subject to planning permission being granted, the development is intended to start construction later this year, with the intended completion date of both the hotel and office accommodation set for early 2010.

Coun Mick Henry, leader of Gateshead Council, said: “Our cultural developments on Gateshead Quays were always intended to act as a trigger to encourage private-sector investment in Gateshead.

“Priority Sites’s proposals suggest that our efforts to create the right conditions for private- sector investment are continuing to bear fruit.

“Gateshead Council is now poised to bring substantial new business and new opportunities to Gateshead. Our Baltic Business Quarter development, which will eventually offer around 140,000sqm (1,500,000sqft) of high-quality office space, is already attracting substantial interest and our development partners Terrace Hill are in discussions with a number of major new employers.

“With such clear interest in the opportunities that Gateshead has to offer, we look set to continue welcoming more such developments to Gateshead. In the meantime, we look forward to receiving more details of Priority Sites’s proposals.”