Apartments completed in £35m redevelopment project

The one and two-bedroomed apartments, which sold out quickly when they went on sale in August, despite the £245,000 price tag for the larger flats, are part of the long-awaited Walkergate development, between the city's Gala Theatre and the banks of the River Wear.

The development will also have a 500-space multi-storey car park, a hotel, restaurants and bars.

York-based Shepherd Construction is building the complex for Amec Developments. Work, started in January, using mostly local labour and sub-contractors, is expected to be completed in June.

The company's construction director, Peter Hodges, said the shell of the block had been finished, but the apartments, which each have balconies, some looking out on the river, needed to be fitted out.

He said the company had a long record of construction in Durham and was delighted to be associated with such a high-profile project.

Fraser Reynolds, Liberal Democrat leader of Durham City Council, described the scheme as "brilliant'' and said it was regenerating a run-down area of the city and helping to kick-start new investments and other projects, including a Radisson Hotel.

He said: "It is developing a new gateway to the city for us. You can come from the car park, up the steps into Millennium Place and the Gala and into the Market Place.''

Matthew Crompton, of Amec, said there had been considerable changes in the scheme's design since it was first envisaged - a multiplex cinema was dropped when market conditions worsened - but he said: "The city council has stuck with us through thick and thin throughout this project.''

He also praised Shepherd Construction for its work on what he described as a complex site.

The city's former Labour MP, Gerry Steinberg branded the development "second class'' shortly before he retired in May and some city centre residents have criticised the development for blocking out views across the river from the balcony of the theatre's bar.