The developer behind plans for 325 studio apartments at a prominent location on a key route into Bradford city centre has moved on to site.

Key Homes Fund acquired part of the Aspire Citygate development site at the bottom of Manchester Road and has planning permission for a six-storey block. Hoardings have recently gone up around the plot off Reyhill Grove and ground works have begun.

The main substructure work has been delayed due to the discovery of basements from the Victorian terraced homes which were on the site.

The ground floor will have parking and a possible commercial unit.

A spokesman for the company said: “The development will sit on the corner of Reyhill Grove and Manchester Road and be elevated above this main arterial by the natural levels of the site.

“The architecture of the scheme will be contemporary in style with the use of rain screen cladding of contrasting colours and a strong emphasis to the two main cornerstones of the building along the Manchester Road elevation.

“The main mass of the building will appear to float on a ground floor of full height glazing and random rain screen panels have been used to the elevations to break up the regularity of the upper floor windows.

“The entrance off Reyhill Grove has been highlighted as a beacon and should be a visual arrival point for those travelling along the main dual carriageway adjacent.”

The move onto site comes as work is set to begin shortly on the first phase of a £45 million development of more than 700 apartments on the neighbouring part of the plot.

York-based developer Skelwith Group is to build 75 homes as part of phase one of Aspire Citygate. This will provide contemporary and sustainable homes starting from £50,000, with the block of apartments containing one-bed and two-bed homes.

The Citygate scheme was resurrected by the Skelwith Group after the previous developer, Asquith Properties, hit financial difficulties. Some revisions were made to the first phase plans as Council planning officers were concerned about the predominance of one-bedroom flats and insufficient parking.