Middlesbrough's Boho X opening update
The Boho X project will be handed over to its tenant next spring, councillors have been told.
Middlesbrough Council’s overview and scrutiny board was given an update on the project this week. Richard Horniman, the council’s regeneration director, was asked during a meeting: “Boho X – when will it be open?”
He replied: “The work that we are undertaking to build it would have been finished on time in December. So pretty much any day now.
“There is some work that needs to be done by Northern Powergrid that they haven’t given us a date for them completing it. Because we haven’t had a date, we’ve had to put off some of the final tasks, for example you wouldn’t do some of the internal stuff because there’s no power or lighting.
“We were expecting that work to be undertaken by Northern Powergrid in January and it’ll take three months to then get everything commissioned. So we’re expecting to hand it over to the tenant probably around about April time.
“And then their fit-out period will start from there, and obviously their fit-out period’s up to them.”
Councillor Eric Polano, cabinet member for regeneration, told the meeting: “This year we’ve seen the investment made previously in places like Centre Square, Tees Advanced Manufacturing Park and Boho bear fruit.
“The rents being achieved there are pushing the market upwards so that the private sector developers are starting to invest.
“There is a continuous flow of investment into the digital sector in the Boho area that is driving further growth.
“The Financial Times has ranked Middlesbrough in the top five European small cities for foreign direct investment this year.”
Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston has described Boho X as “a brilliant post-Covid project that’s going according to plan and will be great news for the town”. The plans underwent huge changes as they were scaled back from a 260ft tower to a low-rise building.
More than £600,000 was spent on the design costs for the original tower which was scrapped. An audit review earlier this year found Mr Preston had exceeded his remit, meeting with Chinese state-owned developer BCEGI without being accompanied by council staff or documenting the meetings, contravening the council’s constitution.
The mayor was accused by Labour group leader Cllr Matt Storey of “incompetence and rule-breaking”. He hit back, accusing Labour of spending £20m on Centre Square offices “to use as a political palace – a project I blocked and have transformed into a profit-making, job-creating success story, saving the public £10 million in the process”.