Construction will start next summer after the contractor has worked through the detailed designs for the new town hall, which will be located on a new riverside site.
Existing municipal offices at the ‘black box’ will be demolished and around 2,000 staff from 33 buildings will be relocated to the ‘one-stop’ customer service centre.
The 250,000 sq ft development will feature a new library and conference facilities together with offices for the NHS.
In the first stage McAlpine will work with the council’s design team Newcastle architect Faulkner Browns.