Plans for a digital office block in the heart of Middlesbrough have been boosted with the news that a number of tenants have already signed up.
A full application for the 20-storey Boho X development has been submitted, with Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston saying the £45m development would be the single largest investment in the town.
Unveiling new images of the scheme, Mr Preston said the building could support up to 1,000 jobs and had already attracted interest from a number of local firms.
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He said: “This is our building - a campus building with a monstrous tower that’s going to stand out from wherever you are on Teesside, whether you’re on Roseberry Topping or the A19 flyover, or somewhere in Billingham - you will see this for miles around.
“This building will be the biggest office building between Leeds and Glasgow.
“It’s an expression of our ambition and it’s an expression of how precious the land around this is going to be.”
Mr Preston said the £45m development - complete with gym, cinema, 200-seat lecture theatre, 750-seat events space and even a helipad - would boast “exceptional facilities like nothing within 100 miles”.
He added that the office building would form part of a wider £250m project that will also include two 20-storey residential blocks.
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“This isn’t a dream, a goal or an ambition - this is happening now,” he said.
“Today, a full planning app for this building and for this campus and an outline planning app for the two residential towers has actually been submitted this morning at 9am.
“Work will start around August and will take a maximum of two years. So by 2022 the Middlesbrough skyline - the Teesside skyline - will have changed forever completely.
“People that come here or fly past or drive past will see us completely differently with these three skyscrapers out of the ground.”
Despite Middlesbrough’s Centre Square office development still being empty months after it was opened last summer, Mr Preston insited the new development was different.
He said Middlesbrough College, Northern Stable, Logic Architecture and the Endeavour Partnership had already committed to talking space in Boho X.
Much of the funding for the development will come from the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
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Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen said the interest already being shown by local firms set the development apart.
“Today the planning application is in - it’s not just talk,” he said.
“It’s not just me saying that, we’ve got quality Teesside businesses put their money where their mouth is.”