Gateshead Quays digs plans forges on

Article posted by Coliseum, March 20^th, 2026

Image: The Sage

Construction of a long-promised arena on the Gateshead Quayside (UK) will start in early 2028, the North East Mayor Kim McGuiness said.

‘ChronicleLive’ stated that Mayor McGuinness announced £24 million of new funding recently to help revive the vision for a modern concert venue in the heart of Tyneside (conurbation in North East England, UK) after years of setbacks and delays.

The Quayside is an area along the banks (quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne (the North Bank) and Gateshead (South Bank) in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom.

‘ChronicleLive’ further stated that plans for a state-of-the-art arena and an international grade conference center on the Quayside have been in the works for the best part of a decade with a prime plot of land between the Glasshouse Music Hall and the Baltic Art Gallery earmarked for the development. But the project has been plagued with problems and stalled as its estimated costs spiraled.

The 2,240-capacity Glasshouse Music Hall is an international center for musical education and concerts on the Gateshead bank of Quayside in Northern England (UK).

The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (also known simply as [the] Baltic, stylized as BALTIC) is a center for contemporary art located on the South Bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England (UK). It hosts a frequently changing variety of exhibitions, events and educational programs with no permanent exhibition.

The Mayor’s cash injection will be used to deliver critical infrastructure works to “derisk” the scheme and make it a more attractive proposition for a new investor-operator to run a 12,500-15,000-seat venue capable of attracting the world’s biggest acts.

It will also be targeted at creating an open-air performance square next to the Glasshouse and an urban park connecting the riverside to the Baltic Quarter. The conference center element looks set to be dropped from the plans.

Observed Mayor McGuiness, “It has been a very long wait for the people and I am as inpatient as anyone else. We are now putting the investment in place so that we can get underway, first of all with doing something with that site. That is one of the most important sites in the whole region, it is a beautiful spot right there between the Glasshouse and the Baltic. The fact it is not being used at the moment is awful for us. So, some of this investment will be about bringing it back into use immediately. But we will see work start on an arena at the beginning of 2028 and completed as soon as possible. What is not okay is that the big acts who are on tour step over our region because we don’t have the space big enough.”

Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the major price inflation hitting the construction industry have all been blamed for the lack of progress on the Quays up to this point.

Previously, the idea had been to replace the 11,000-capacity Utilita Arena in Newcastle with a modern venue on the other side of the Tyne. The existing site’s owner-operator was on board to operate the Gateshead site. However, the situation is now less clear. The North East Combined Authority (NECA) says there are now “at least four major operators” interested in running the proposed new arena.

The North East Combined Authority (NECA) is a combined authority in North East England (UK). It has a directly-elected Mayor and seven Member Councils: Two are unitary authorities (Durham and Northumberland) and five are Metropolitan borough Councils (Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and Sunderland).

The Utilita Arena owner Legends Global recently announced plans to invest £65 million to upgrade the 1990s facility and would be faced with a big decision over its future if the Gateshead venue does finally come to fruition, whether it becomes the operator or not. Mayor McGuinness claimed that there “is space for both” the arenas.

However, she added, “The arena in Newcastle currently is of a time and what we need to be doing is constantly evolving. We have to keep up. This is not a region that is going to sit and take a backseat, this is a region that is ambitious and wants to forge on. We see some of the bigger acts just don’t come here because the arena isn’t big enough, isn’t modern enough.”

New York (US)-based the Legends Global is the premier partner to the world’s greatest live events, venues and brands. They deliver a fully integrated solution of premium services that keeps their partners front-and-center through their white-label approach. Legends Global’s partners engage them at the earliest stages of feasibility and design through project development to bring their visions to life.

Stephen Patterson, head honcho of Newcastle business improvement district company NE1 Limited, said that the announcement over the new arena “needs to turn into implementation and quickly”. He also urged the decision-makers not to abandon the idea of a “game-changer” conference center. Pointed out Patterson, “The Quayside is the perfect, iconic location for both an arena and a conference center. With the initial funding secured pressing ahead with plans for the international conference center should remain a priority as its delivery will be the final piece in the Quayside regeneration jigsaw. We hope that this initial funding announcement creates the right conditions for future investment.”

The Gateshead Labour MP Mark Fergsuon said the Mayor’s investment was a “big vote of confidence in Gateshead Quays”.

He stated, “This will accelerate the regeneration of the site to put us once again on the world stage for the arts. I will continue to do my bit, working with Kim and the Council to promote Gateshead as a major center for development, investment and growth that will enhance the quality of life for the local residents.”

The arena funding announcement is part of a wider £104 million package for the region’s cultural sector including a £38.5 million boost to get construction started on the Crown Works Film Studios in Sunderland (City in Tyne and Wear, North East England).

John McCabe, Chief Executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the “renewed momentum” on the two flagship projects that have run into difficulty.

He added, “At the same time it is clear that the schemes now progressing are not quite as large as some of the earliest ambitions that were originally discussed. The priority now must be ensuring they create meaningful economic opportunities for the businesses and the communities across the region. The North East has the talent and ambition to build a globally recognized creative economy outside of London and Manchester. Investments like this can help unlock that potential and we look forward to working with our Members across the region to ensure these developments become a reality.”

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