Will Alsop - the Middlehaven dream-maker - believes the £500m project will put Middlesbrough firmly on the world's architectural map.
And key players who will be spearheading the realisation of the Middlehaven vision say emphatically it can be delivered over the coming 15 to 20 years.
The far-reaching design for Middlesbrough's 150-acre Greater Middlehaven site was unveiled yesterday.
The concept includes stunning architecture with ideas for a theatre in the shape of an electric toaster, hotels formed like a Ker-Plunk tower and a champagne glass, "sugar cube" office and residential blocks with pubs and restaurants on the ground floors and the new £50m Middlesbrough College which will attract some 20,000 students a week.
Thousands of jobs and new homes could be provided on the site and a wide range of leisure activities are planned.
Will Alsop, the award-winning architect behind the design, said: "You will have some people who will love it and some who hate it, but you will not have 'don't knows'.
"We have decades of 'don't knows' buildings in towns and this does nothing to stimulate people,"
Mr Alsop said Middlehaven was in a landscape of icons with structures such as the nearby Transporter Bridge and the clock tower on the site.
"If you look at Manchester in reinventing itself they had a vision and they have a 'can do' attitude - I recognise that here in the Tees Valley," he said.
"There is the potential to make Middlehaven a very vibrant place and with the right designs there is no reason why Middlehaven should not reach the architectural quality we see in Chicago."
Joe Docherty, chief executive of Tees Valley Regeneration, stressed the importance TVR had placed in bringing on board developers at an early stage to ensure that what was produced was deliverable. He revealed discussions were ongoing and at various stages with developers to complete 80pc of the first phase of the scheme.
He said it had produced interest from developers both in the UK and abroad.
Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon said: "We have not punched our weight for 25 years and the Tees Valley has not punched strategically. The sub-region now has a chance and we have to take it with both hands.
"We are on our way and I ask everyone to embrace what we have on offer."
* A public consultation event on the proposals will be held in Captain Cook Square, Middlesbrough, on July 28, 29 and 30.
Email Tees Pride at the Evening Gazette, or phone Karen McLauchlan, Deputy Business Editor on 01642 234651. Write to: Tees Pride, Evening Gazette, Borough Road, Middlesbrough, TS1 3AZ.
Email Tees Pride at the Evening Gazette, or phone Karen McLauchlan, Deputy Business Editor on: 01642 234651 Write to: Tees Pride, Evening Gazette, Borough Road, Middlesbrough, TS1 3AZ
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