Builders bid for 'Kerplunk' plan

The plans will transform the redundant riverside area

A shortlist of developers for a controversial £500m regeneration scheme on Teesside has been revealed.

The proposals for Middlesbrough's Middlehaven area include a hotel shaped like the game Kerplunk.

Six firms have been shortlisted - Urban Splash, Urban Catalyst, Placemakers, Kajima Urban Developments (KUD), LNER Estates and Taylor Woodrow.

Tees Valley Regeneration, which drew up the plans, says it may choose up to three firms to develop the site.

Neil Etherington, director of Tees Valley Regeneration, said: "Six of the best top-notch developers have said they want a piece of this project.

"The firms have transformed the centre of Manchester and Liverpool and developed the Greenwich Millennium Village. They've been involved with London's Docklands and the Newcastle Great Park. They really are a who's who of the best names in development."

Sugar cube-shaped office buildings will overlook the river

The plans for Middlehaven, which also include office buildings in the shape of sugar cubes and a toaster-inspired theatre, have raised some eyebrows, but Mr Etherington says none of the ideas are set in stone.

He said: "We have a master plan, which a lot of people have had a go at, but which the market has responded positively to. It's not a blueprint, just a guide, but it does lay down some key principles.

"I don't think we can say exactly what it's going to look like in five to ten years because the detail is down to the developers putting their money where our mouth is."

Tees Valley Regeneration says it should make its decision in April and expects building work to begin in January 2006.