More than 60 new apartments will be opened in two historic buildings as the housing boom continues in Little Germany.

The new multi-million pound schemes unveiled today will transform Behrens Warehouse and Treadwell's Mill, breathing new life into the famous former merchants' quarter.

They follow a major housing scheme in Silens Works by the award-winning Yorkshire Design Partnership.

The 20 apartments in that building are now sold.

Development company Blue Rooms began work this week converting listed Behrens warehouse into more than 37 apartments, which will be for rent, in a £3 million scheme.

Project manager Mark Bonner said the development would be completed in March or April next year. "This is a unique area and the buildings are rich in architectural detail," he said.

Now Leeds-based Landmark Development Projects has submitted a planning application to Bradford Council for a £2 million housing scheme at Treadwell's Mill which architects say will meet modern-day needs while preserving its architecture. When the famous property was constructed in the early 1800s it was known as Eastbrook House and surrounded by green fields. A four-storey warehouse was added 50 years later when Bradford was the wool capital of the world.

In the 1970s the distinctive steel-framed gallery on the north-west face of the building was added to provide more studio and display space at what was then Treadwell's art gallery.

The architects of the Tread-well's Mill scheme have told the planning department the building is a "testament to a complex history of use". The development would include 33 open-plan loft-style apartments. Feat-ures include grand stone stairs, mosaic floors, cast-iron columns and exposed brickwork.

Landmark director Nick Elliott said work would start in November.

Trevor Lewis, chairman of the Little Germany Urban Village Company - which is spearheading the regeneration of the historic area - said: "It is a step in the right direction which will benefit Little Germany and the city centre." But he said other things are important to Little Germany to make it more "people-friendly" such as the closed-circuit television system being installed and better car parking.