THE company behind the £50 million-plus Park Quadrant Residences development in Glasgow’s west end has declared sales of the luxury apartments are running to target and not being held back by the challenging economic backdrop.

Ambassador Group, which was founded by former Gladedale chief executive David Gaffney, has sold 24 of the first phase of 33 flats “off plan” since launching sales in August. Around 40 per cent of the flats have been sold to foreign investors.

With the first legal completions not due until October at the earliest, purchasers have effectively bought some of the city’s most expensive homes having seen no more than virtual reality representations and specifications online. Prices range from a £310,000 a one-bedroom flat to £940,000 for a townhouse.

Gordon Coster, Ambassador’s Glasgow-born managing director, said the interest shown in the properties vindicates the company’s decision to furnish the homes to an extremely high specification. That will extend to the properties being served by a dedicated concierge.

And he declared there is no sign of the faltering economic backdrop limiting demand, or the recent change from stamp duty to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, which has undermined sales in Scotland at the top end of the property market.

“It doesn’t appear to be [curbing demand],” said Mr Coster, whose 25-year career in the building sector has included senior roles with Beazer, Miller, Robertson and Bett Homes. “I can’t say whether if the stamp duty threshold hadn’t changed we’d sitting at 36 sales [instead of 24]. I don’t know on that basis.”

Mr Coster, a former managing director of Manor Kingdom, added: “It’s pitched at the very top end and we think that is having a bearing on the sales rate. We believe we are trying to create something pretty special here.”

Ambassador funds its developments from its own resources, alongside partner investors. Co-investors range from high net worth individuals to large and small investment funds. Asked whether Ambassador is seeing more investment from overseas because of the pound’s weakness since the Brexit vote, Mr Coster said: “On the residential [side] yes. About 40 per cent of sales in Park Quadrant are to foreign investors.”

He added that foreign investors are keen to spread their interests out from London to cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester. “They can only put so much money to work in the south-east of England, so they need to spread their risk a wee bit,” Mr Coster added. “They see our business, and Scotland as a whole, as an area worth investing in.”

The Park Quadrant development may be appealing to lovers of Glasgow architectural history, given it will complete the original 19th century masterplan for the Park Circus area envisaged by architect Charles Wilson in 1851. In total the plan will include 98 properties, spanning apartments, duplexes and penthouses.

Mr Coster noted that his firm stepped in to take over the project after its initial developer, which secured planning permission, approached it to see if Ambassador could help with funding. Those discussions ultimately led Ambassador to taking a 51 per cent stake in the development, with the balance now held by one of its partner funds.

As well as Park Quadrant, Ambassador’s residential division is “live” on site with four other developments, which are pitched at the mainstream end of the market. It has been named preferred bidder status on another site, and is in the running for others. Mr Coster said the division does not go head to head with the “volume” builders, and will take on developments that are typically smaller or more technically challenging.

The Ambassador Group has an asset management wing, which has raised investment for its first £100m fund. It will be deployed in commercial properties in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling.