Developers of the city-centre Leisure Exchange and the Odeon Cinema complex at Thornbury now want to construct a landmark building in historic Little Germany.

JJ Gallagher wants to develop a prestigious four-storey sandstone complex of apartments or offices on one of the most prominent sites in the city.

The building, which would be modern but with a pitched roof and traditional features, is planned for the corner of Leeds Road and Shipley/Airedale Road on part of a site formerly used by Shipley Paints. It is in the Little Germany Conser-vation area close to the £35 million Leisure Exchange on the former Vicar Lane car park which the developers opened two years ago.

The proposed £5 million development comes as doz-ens of historic listed buildings in Little Germany are converted into apartments and offices with millions of pounds of investment coming into the urban village.

The radical city-centre plan drawn up by international architect Will Alsop also encourages housing in a green city centre with a lake around City Hall.

Trevor Lewis, chairman of the Little Germany advisory group to Bradford Centre Regeneration - the Urban Regeneration Company, said he liked the concept of a mixed-use development.

Planning permission for a hotel on the site was obtained several years ago but Gallagher's did not want to develop it for that purpose because it was already building a hotel in the Vicar Lane complex.

A planning application has been submitted to Brad-ford Council for the development. It should be dealt with by the end of the year.

Gallagher's development director Simon Newsholme said: "We are committed to Bradford and see the city as a great investment opportunity. It is a city which has had tough times, but it is a city on the up and up."