Bradford's tallest building a towering 20-storey apartment block is planned to become the dramatic new gateway to the city centre.

The glass and steel building is part of a £130 million development planned for the site of the now demolished 1960s Reyner House flats and shops complex off Manchester Road.

The Trident regeneration project ran an international contest to find a development for the prime site and today it declared that Asquith Properties was the winner.

Asquith has teamed up with award-winning architect Glen Howels for the scheme which has 800 apartments, innovative "live and work properties", and a 120-bedroom hotel including a 1,500 capacity banqueting hall.

An outline planning application is expected to be submitted during the next few months for the scheme which would lead to work for hundreds of Bradford people during the construction period which would last up to 2010.

But there will be widespread public consultation throughout the Trident area and the early proposals published today could be amended.

The proposed scheme contains buildings of different heights and includes innovative properties especially designed for people to live and work.

The development would stand on a five-acre site where bulldozers razed the unloved Reyner House flats and shops.

Asquith Properties, which is also building the prestigious £22 million Gate Haus tower complex flanking Little Germany in Leeds Road has developed hundreds of other apartments in new and existing historic buildings across the city.

The company is investing £200 million in Bradford and says it is fully committed to the city for the next five years.

Glen Howells Architects has won a string of major awards for its work.

It is creating a distinctive gateway project in Lime Street, Liverpool, which is a world heritage site.

Trident advertised internationally for companies and partnerships to enter a competition to become their preferred developer because of the importance of the site's location. The regeneration company, which was set up after being awarded a £50 million grant from the Government's New Deal for Communities Fund, whittled the entries down to four finalists.

Today Trident chairman, Councillor Ian Greenwood, said: "We are delighted to announce Asquith Properties as winners.

"It understands the importance of the site which stands on one of the major gateways of the city and we are confident we can work with them to create buildings of character and substance.

"Asquith has produced some initial images of how the scheme might look. We now need to work closely with residents and our partners to guide the development of the proposals."

Asquith Properties managing director, Russell Baker, said: "Winning the competition is great news for us."

He said an outline planning application would be submitted within the next few months with the scheme expected to be completed in four phases by 2010.

Steve Hartley, chief executive of Bradford Trident, said: "This development is of major significance to the Trident area and to the city of Bradford.

"The added bonus is that income from the scheme will be re-circulated back into the area for the benefit of the residents.

"It is the biggest single redevelopment we will do and is a very important gateway."

Anthony Mann, chairman of Bradford Civic Society said: "It is an important site and we welcome investment and good quality development. We look forward to seeing the plans in detail."

The development will also include public footpaths and cycle paths which will tie into the Living Street which runs through the area linking neighbourhoods and making facilities accessible.

The site had always been earmarked by Trident for a landmark building which would be visible to tens of thousands of people coming daily to and from the city and the proceeds of the sale of the land will go towards regenerating the area.

Long before the bulldozers moved in people had moved out because they did not want to live there.

Now developers believe it will become one of the city's most sought-after locations.

Housing in Manchester Road is also being transformed as 36 low rise blocks of flats which housed hundreds of people are replaced by leafy streets of about 400 terraced houses in response to a demand by people for a traditional-style neighbourhood. The first 30 streets in Elizabeth Street are now completed.

The flats were built in the 1950s and 60s to replace grim, overcrowded Victorian back-to-backs but through the years they were hit by crime and vandalism and fell into disrepair.

A further 16 blocks of flats in Manchester Road and Otley Road which were transferred by Bradford Council to Bradford Community Housing Trust are also being refurbished in a separate scheme at a cost of £27m.

e-mail: olwen.vasey@bradford.newsquest.co.uk