A DERELICT area near the site of Glasgow's Commonwealth Games athletes' village is to be transformed into a £25million housing development.

A DERELICT area near the site of Glasgow's Commonwealth Games athletes' village is to be transformed into a £25million housing development.

Stewart & McKenna acquired the site after striking a deal with Glasgow City Council, which needed another piece of land the developers owned at nearby Millerfield Road for the 2014 Games participants' accommodation.

The developers got £1.7m as well as the new plot in Beechgrove Street after selling the parcel of land to the council.

A total of 131 flats will be built in the development.

As well as six penthouses costing £180,000 each, one-bedroom flats at around £110,000 and two-bedroom apartments for £150,000, the development will feature studio flats aimed at first-time buyers.

Dubbed nano flats' by the developers, the 18 flats with balconies will cost under £100,000.

Stephen McKenna, Stewart & McKenna's executive director, said: "We are trying to work on how people can get on the property ladder.

"We were trying to come up with an apartment that's beneficial for us to build and also for people who can't afford to get on the property ladder to give them a step up."

Work on the development will start later this year and the flats are due to be completed by mid-2010 after going on sale in July.

The flats are another sign of the benefits which will flow into the East End of the city after Glasgow won its bid to host the Games.

The area will be transformed as millions of pounds are invested in the area ahead of the event.

Glasgow is expected to attract 1m visitors, 6500 athletes and a worldwide television audience of around 1billion for the 2014 Games.