Aberdeen City Council is expected to meet next month to decide whether to approve design plans for a new £185million Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC), the developer for the project said.
John Sutcliffe, group finance director of Henry Boot, said construction could get under way near the airport in Dyce in 2016 if approval is granted, though planning permission would still need to be secured.
The new centre, which will replace the existing AECC at Bridge of Don, is scheduled for completion in early 2018. Its main arena would house up to 15,000 people standing, while there would be enhanced conference space and a four-star 200-bedroom hotel.
Meanwhile, Henry Boot has warned that growth in land buying activity in the UK has slowed down in the second half of 2014 in the face of tighter mortgage conditions and valuation concerns in London.
The developer said it expects to see a tougher planning regime coming into force for a period of time around the next general election.
It also noted an increase in land buying activity by house builders in the first half of the year, owing to a rapid rise in the number of site openings and improving house sales, assisted by government backed finance schemes such as Help to Buy.
The firm said it had spotted signs that planning procedures are already tightening, but that it had recently managed to rubber stamp a number of new permissions and land sales.