WORK could soon start again on a £10million luxury development in the West End.

WORK could soon start again on a £10million luxury development in the West End.

The Evening Times revealed in 2006 plans to convert a B-listed former convent into 81 executive flats.

The Victoria Crescent Road property was bought over in June that year by upmarket developers Dowanhill Investors.

But last year work on the site ground to a halt when first the contracters Geminax then Dowanhill Investors fell into administration.

Now, administrators say they are close to finding a buyer for the site and have vowed work will restart.

Bruce Cartwright, head of business recovery services at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, is dealing with the administration of the company.

He said: "Work had stopped on the site before we took control last November. The contractors had gone into administration and then Dowanhill Investors ran into financial difficulty.

"We have done some work to ensure the sites has been closed down safely and we are now working with the planning department to find a way to restart the development. Though I can't give a date for this, things are looking very positive."

Mr Cartwright added that Dowanhill Investors had not made anyone redundant as the firm does not directly employ any staff and hires contractors to carry out the work.

Heritors Group, the parent company of Dowanhill Investors, has been forced to mothball several development sites after struggling during the property slump.

The Edinburgh-based company, which has flats to let in Park Circus and the Botanic Gardens, held properties worth almost £150m in a partnership with HBOS.

Dowanhill Investors was taken into the hands of PriceWaterhouseCoopers last November but work ceased on the site in October.

The 110-year-old listed building is made up of five separate properties. Originally home to the Notre Dame order of nuns, the Dowanhill building was later turned into offices for education body Learning Teaching Scotland.

The building is rumoured to be haunted by the spirit of a French nun called Sister Campion. Workers claimed they had seen the ghost gliding around the old nunnery.

The conversion was expected to take two years to complete with flats selling for around £200,000.

More than 60 objections to the plans were lodged by neighbours and parents of pupils at nearby Notre Dame primary school.

A Glasgow City Council spokesmansaid: "The council is working with the developer's administrators to find a resolution to the final development of the site."