BUYERS from across the globe are now clamouring to invest in Bradford, a company behind a multi-million pound residential development has revealed.

A former office block next door to The Broadway shopping centre is being turned into more than 100 flats, and nearly half have been snapped up off-plan already, according to Manchester-based property firm Pinnacle Alliance.

The company has now started work on its £4.3 million scheme to transform the upper seven floors of The Xchange, formerly Arndale House, in Charles Street into 126 one and two-bedroom apartments with a roof garden.

Pinnacle Alliance, which works mainly in cities like Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, said it had been surprised by the speed at which the apartments were selling, saying people from as far afield as Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuwait were buying into the concept of a city on the up.

Head of marketing Richard Caton said: "We have sold 53 of 126 apartments, so we are almost at the halfway point.

"We have been really surprised by the demand. For us, the city was a new market entirely.

"The reason we took the project on was because of where it is.

"All the stuff that is happening with Bradford at the moment has meant we have been able to sell Bradford as a destination across the world."

The scheme is due to finish by the end of next year.

A separate company, Rawson Quarter LLP, has already started refurbishing the lower two floors of the building into new-look shops and a first-floor EasyGym in a £2.2 million project due to finish in the summer.

Bradford Council leader Councillor David Green welcomed the news.

He said: "This demonstrates there is a real buzz and confidence about Bradford in terms of investment.

"Now we have this development, we have the Broadway development, we have smaller investors coming into the independent quarter, we are aware of other significant investors, not just in the city centre, but in other areas of the district."

The authority has relaxed planning rules in the city centre, making it easier for developers to bring empty upper floors back into use, and Cllr Green said this had helped schemes like this get off the ground.

He added: "Delivery breeds confidence and we are beginning to see the benefit of that."

Bradford Property Forum chairman Steve McManus said investors had "generally avoided Bradford" in the past, so he was glad the city's fortunes were turning around.

He said: "Good-quality one and two bedroom apartments - not just studios, but good-size apartments - will suit young professionals and bring life back into the city centre. It can only be good news."

Pinnacle Alliance has been marketing the scheme worldwide.

Mr Caton said while locals were able to buy their own apartments in The Xchange, the vast majority were being sold on a buy-to-let basis to investors from the Middle East and Far East.

He said while everyone overseas had heard of Manchester United or The Beatles, they had not known what people would make of Bradford.

He said: "The Broadway shopping centre has been great for us to hang on to, but they do like very much the fact that the city has got a huge amount of culture and heritage.

"It is a really well-established city in the UK, it is the Unesco City of Film and it has the National Media Museum. Even Bradford being the Curry Capital - that took a bit of explaining, but we got there."

Mr Caton said the apartments would be a great place to live and said the views of the city from the upper floors would be "absolutely amazing".

Earlier this year, another development firm, Golden Sands, revealed it was hoping to invest up to £90 million in Bradford across five different property schemes.

Its co-director Ameer Abas said it had been attracted by the city's continuing regeneration.