The planned venue would bring a 12,500 seat arena plus 10,300sq-mt of conference and exhibition facilities to Gateshead Quays.
The 10-acre site sits directly opposite the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, between Sage Gateshead and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
With the addition of new hotels, bars and restaurants, the project would create a vibrant new destination on the Gateshead waterfront.
Paul Szomoru, head of business tourism at NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau said: “While we consistently ‘punch above our weight’ as a destination, what we have always needed to enable us to attract the biggest major international conventions is a large flat floor space capable of holding exhibitions and dinners for over 1,000 people, with suitable break out space for events of 1,000+ people. We’ve always had the ambition and the strength of voice, and the announcement of plans to develop a dedicated conference and events space on Gateshead Quays will help us fulfil our ambitions to cement NewcastleGateshead’s place on the international map.”
The next step will see a detailed design drawn up ahead of the pre-planning and pre-construction phases.