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23.02.07 West Properties will hit the ground running at MIPIM this year. Fresh from the launch of Skyline Central - its second entry into the Manchester property market and another sell-out success in the city, West Properties have announced that future plans to transform a derelict car park on Princess Street in the 'Village' area of Manchester into a landmark regeneration development have received the green light from Manchester City Council. Designed by Ian Simpson Architects, the scheme will comprise three beautifully sculpted buildings set around a landscaped piazza. By creating a landmark destination the proposed development will generate around 2000 jobs and create a sense of place and public realm through its landscaped water gardens, a revitalized waterfront, independent retail outlets and restaurants. By vastly improving the canal frontage with restaurants opening onto the canal and piazza the development will create vibrant activity at street level and provide an exciting new business and living quarter in the city. The final design of the scheme was arrived at after extensive consultation with English Heritage and the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment (CABE), local residents, businesses and other key stakeholders. One of the last remaining undeveloped sites in the city centre the Princess Street car park is a strategic development linking the Oxford Road Corridor - a major economic driver in Manchester City Centre and the City region - and the impressive new Piccadilly and will continue to be a leading cultural and knowledge growth point in the UK. To add to their exciting plans for Manchester West Properties have also submitted plans to develop another luxury residential tower situated on Rochdale Road directly opposite the award winning Skyline Central building. Clearly West Properties deliver real quality and it is no surprise that apartments at both Lumiere and Skyline Central were sold out in record time. With Skyline Central voted 'Best Development in Greater Manchester' at the Daily Mail Awards last year and the Lumiere building achieving a 'Built in Quality' award by Manchester City Council Building Control Surveyors as well as 'Best Apartment' scheme at the Manchester Evening News Property Awards West Properties are rapidly making their mark on the city of Manchester. The real point of difference provided by West Properties is the extras. The glamorous 20 metre rooftop swimming pool at Skyline Central, Jacuzzi, 24 hour concierge service and on-site gyms create a 'lifestyle within a building' keeping residents happy and helping to ensure high investor returns year after year. West Properties create high quality developments in buzzing city centre locations and through its on site lettings and management team ensure high standard long term management. The unique approach of West Properties is to design, build, sell, let and manage and invest in its developments. They also retain a large number of units in each development, ensuring the quality of the building's services is maintained in the long term, a formula that is proving a resounding success. 08.02.07 Last Thursday night saw West Properties throw the best party for months, celebrating the opening of their remarkable new building, Skyline. It turned out top be a belter. Initially everyone was gathered on the roof of the building, where you get your jaw lowered by the view, then the full length swimming pool. It’s fantastic. You can see why our property editor likes it, read her take on the building by clicking here. Once we had all necked god knows how many canapés and champagne, we were bussed down to The Grill on the Alley, (Gralley to its pals) where Donal Mulryan, Gaffer of West, treated us all to a full sit down dinner. By all the gods, the Irish know how to throw a party Undeterred by the fact that the Gralley don’t serve any decent beer, let alone Guinness, the West lads simply had a bloody huge keg of the black stuff flown in from Dublin. Gordo saw Ben Richardson serving himself the very last pint of the good stuff around half past two in the morning, so Gordo confiscated it. A cracker of a do lads, lets have another. Happy Trails 09.05.07 Everyone has their hangover cure – 14 bottles of water before bed time, go for a run (ridiculous if you ask me) or my personal favourite, a small bottle of Lucozade with a couple of Paracetamol. If I could bottle my hangover cure, I would be the world’s most eligible bachelorette. It consists of the tough job of lounging in the hot tub on the top floor of Skyline on Rochdale Road. The previous night’s indulgencies melted away in the bubbles as I gazed out across Manchester’s rapidly improving skyline. If you’ve driven past Skyline, you can’t fail to have noticed what looks like a huge greenhouse sitting on the top. That greenhouse is known as “Elysium”, a self contained gym, pool, sauna, steam room, hot tub and treatment room that’s available to all residents of Skyline, one of Manchester’s top serviced apartment blocks. There’s even a “chill out” area, if you want to read Heat of an afternoon. Myself and my boyfriend have for some time wanted to leave behind our Victorian terrace in Levenshulme and have a taste of city living, so when we were invited to spend a week at Skyline we thought it was the perfect opportunity to try urban living for size. The idea behind all of West Properties developments is to bring hotel living to everyday life. Having cut their teeth with Lumiere, they’ve gone one better with Skyline. So we’re already panting at the thought of Origin, West’s controversial new build which has just started development in the village. We were given the run of a fantastic two bedroom apartment on the eighth floor. This comprised open plan kitchen/living room with balcony over the gardens, bathroom, good size second bedroom and a great master complete with en-suite (the shower is like standing under the Victoria falls). Every evening I handed my car keys to a friendly concierge, who hides it safely away under the building until the following morning, when it waited for me at a pre-arranged time. Now that’s service! It certainly beats leaving it on the street in Levenshulme and I’m sure my insurance company would agree. In fact the concierge service is impressive all round - helpful to a fault, friendly and available 24/7, very comforting to know. So we’ve been bitten by the city living bug, it’s slightly more noisy than life in the burbs but it’s a minor downside when Market Street is seven minutes away (yes, we timed it) and you can stumble home after a night on the tiles instead of having to fight tooth and nail for a taxi. Needless to say our house will shortly be on the market. Unfortunately the apartments at Skyline are only for rent or we’d be begging them to sell us one. But if you’re in the market to rent there are one or two places left. They say you’ll fall in love with Skyline, I’ve already invited it to my parents for Christmas. Feel like falling in love? Fill out the form below and we’ll pass your details on to the team. Hands off apartment 805 though, he’s mine. 10.04.07 PRESS RELEASE Deansgate West Properties are delighted to announce the recent addition to their portfolio of projects – Ramada Renaissance Hotel and a joining NCP car park, Deansgate, Manchester purchased from Quintain Estates. Contracts were exchanged on Friday 31st March 2007. The site is located at the junction of Blackfriars and Deansgate and is directly opposite No. 1 Deansgate and Harvey Nichols. The mixed use re-development opportunity represents another strategic project for West Properties in Manchester. Please visit www.westproperties.co.uk for further details. Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council commented “The redevelopment of the Ramada building has been a priority for us for some time. We are delighted that we have a new owner who is committed to early and comprehensive redevelopment. We look forward to working with them to ensure that this important part of the city centre is regenerated." The redevelopment of the site will be a priority for West Properties. For further information contact: Ben Richardson br@westproperties.co.uk 0207 702 3232 Head of Sales and Marketing West Properties Ltd 11.03.05 MOST buy-to-let investors build their property portfolio by scouring estate agents’ windows and making an offer on the best rental home they can find. But Donal Mulryan is not your average landlord. This former director of Ballymore, the Irish property developer, is building his portfolio by constructing his investment first. For him, research is not a matter of surfing the net for best buys but hiring a helicopter and flying over cities to spot prime sites for development. It is the ultimate long-term strategy in a market that has been dominated by short-term players in the past few years. The spectacular rise in house prices in the past decade, coupled with a change in the lettings law in 1996, gave buy-to-let a reputation for being the source of quick and easy money. At the height of the boom, property was swapping hands and investors were making thousands in the time it would take Mulryan just to lay foundations. He plans to build a large portfolio of hundreds of homes through West Properties UK, the company that he set up two years ago. But it will be a few years before he can hand the keys over to his new tenants. Mulryan is currently behind two projects in Manchester. Both are large top-of-the-market developments, which together will add almost 400 trendy new flats to the city centre. Lumiere, the smaller of the two with 138 apartments, is almost finished. Skyline, a 20-storey tower with 250 apartments and a swimming pool on the eighteenth floor, will be ready in 2007. But landlords expecting to see either scheme advertised or a marketing suite spring up in the lobby will be disappointed. Mulryan intends to keep the majority of the flats he has built, making him the landlord with the largest shareof the block. He already owns 60 per cent of Lumiere and the other flats have all been sold directly to contacts that he has built up over his 17 years in the property business. The same group of investors has also snapped up 100 flats in Skyline, where Mulryan has kept 130 homes. Only 20 flats remain for sale. “And they are going at a rate of two to three a week,” he says. Not bad in a slow property market where caution governs investors’ every move. Mulryan set up West Properties UK with an ambitious remit to design, build, manage, let, sell and invest in property. And although some critics could accuse him of having too many fingers in too many property pies, he attributes his success to the way his business is structured. It is a strategy that both saves and makes money. By selling direct to investors, he saves money on marketing. By building in-house he can control the cost, look and quality of his developments. And by keeping a large share of the properties within the company he can ensure that standards are maintained year after year, thus safeguarding his investment. “There is a good investment market out there if you have the right product,” he explains. “By not spending money where I don’t have to, I can give better value to the clients on price. In-house construction can deliver a product more quickly, and you are not paying someone else’s profits. “It also gives me the flexibility to take money out of parts of the building where it can’t be seen and put it in the kitchens, bathrooms and lobby where it really matters. I have to ensure that as a landlord I would still choose to buy a flat in one of my developments. If you can provide a better product for the same money, you are ahead of the game.” Mulryan dismisses suggestions that Manchester’s city centre is already saturated with new flats aimed at affluent young professionals. Even years after the first flurry of buy-to-letters started snapping up cheap developments off-plan, he says that there is still room for growth with the arrival of concerns such as the BBC, Bank of New York, Coutts & Co and the General Medical Council. Mulryan believes that city centres make reliable investments and is optimistic about the future of property. To prove his point, his next project will be in Leeds, which also enjoyed a huge influx of investors at the start of the century. He then hopes to construct an even more ambitious development in London, where he has spent the past seven years building up a separate and private portfolio of 100 properties in Docklands and the East End. “The last five years have been an unusual spike in the property market. Buy-to-let is still a good investment but you have to be patient and not worry about house prices on a daily basis.” 1 www.westproperties.co.uk DONALWISDOM 1 Investing in property is for the long term. You have to be patient. Do not believe the hype and do not worry about house-price headlines on the news. 1 Do not be tempted to buy the cheapest property you can find. Cheap is not necessarily the best. Choose the best property you can find within your budget. 1 Check out the opposition. Find out what other landlords are letting in the area and ensure that you offer better value. If your home is nicer than other investors’ properties but is available for the same rent, you will land the tenant. 1 Spend money where it can be seen. Invest in good design and high-quality materials. 1 The ideal investment property should have a good layout. The kitchen and bathroom are the most important rooms. 1 If you are buying an apartment in a block, make sure that the lobby and corridors are decorated to a good standard. First impressions count. A gym does add kudos to a new development, even if the tenants will use it only a couple of times in January. 1 Borrow on a fixed-rate mortgage. It protects you from interest-rate rises and allows investors to budget ahead. The Skyline development will be ready in 2007. Donal Mulryan rejects suggestions that the centre of Manchester already has too many new flats. 11.04.07 Whilst the remaining grey buildings in town are all receiving face lifts, or at the very least a nip ‘n’ tuck, it seemed only fair that the rather sickly Ramada Renaissance Hotel deserves some pampering. So who better than the image savvy West Properties to reconstruct the Ramada Renaissance Hotel and a joining NCP car park on Deansgate? West properties who will transform the Ramada into a mixed use re-development opportunity, exchanged contracts with Quintain Estates on Friday 31 March 2007. Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council commented “The redevelopment of the Ramada building has been a priority for us for some time. We are delighted that we have a new owner who is committed to early and comprehensive redevelopment. We look forward to working with them to ensure that this important part of the city centre is regenerated." Get the full story straight from West’s mouth on next Wednesday’s Property Confidential. 17.04.07 West Properties will be pulling the plug on the building formerly known as the Ramada Hotel and adjoining NCP car park, into a mixed use re-development opportunity following the exchange of contracts with Quintain Estates at the end of March. Ben Richardson, Head of Sales and Marketing said: “This whole end of Deansgate is fantastic but it’s not as aesthetically pleasing as the rest at the moment. It’s very exciting for us.” Situated right in the heart of the city centre, the plan is to knock down the building and create something to compliment the area. Ben said: “We’ve already got Origin on Princess St and Skyline and Lumiere in the City Centre, but you cant get more central than this. We’re working with architects at the moment on plans for a mixed use building, but we want what is best for the public. There is a potential for office space. With Skyline Central on Rochdale Road, West Properties put a swimming pool feature on the top floor. Ben revealed they are looking to create something as unique for their new project. Final completion of the deal, said to be worth £20m, is due mid May. 19.01.05 MANCHESTER is to get another property first – a tower of apartments with a pool on the top floor. Residents will be able to splash out in a 50-metre indoor sky pool on the 18th floor while looking out over the city skyline. There will also be a gym, steam room, sauna, fitness and treatment rooms and two landscaped roof gardens – one with a hot tub. It is thought to be a first anywhere in Britain and Matt Wilkins, sales and marketing director with the developers West Properties, said: “There may be hotels with pools on the top floor, but we think this is the first residential scheme – it is certainly something different for Manchester. “A lot of schemes use the top floors to create very impressive, but very expensive penthouses which are frankly just a pain in the neck to sell because it is a very limited market. “We decided to use this massive space – 5,000sq ft – to create something that would add value for residents but also give it a unique selling point.” Ground works have just begun to build the scheme – named Skyline Central – on a site at the bottom end of Rochdale Road. As well as the distinctive tower there will be a nine-storey block – 250 apartments in total – and a central garden square with a water feature. Like West’s other development in Manchester, Lumiere on City Road East, it has been designed for the investor market with a five per cent yield guaranteed for two years. Lumiere sold out 150 flats in three weeks last year and 111 have already sold at Skyline. So why put so many expensive toys and provide so many facilities – concierge, valet parking, residents’ intranet – in a building aimed at the rental market? Matt said: “There are a lot of apartments on the market and a lot more coming on with stock that has to be rented out, so you can either be cheaper or better and we always aim to be a lot better. “Putting in things – like an amazing pool – means that this building will always be able to offer something different.” Matt maintains that even with the pool, staff at each of the four entrances and valet parking, the monthly maintenance costs will be equivalent to other well-serviced schemes. West also has its own management company and Matt said: “We are on site which means that if a bulb goes in one of the corridors it will be fixed within minutes not hours or weeks.” April 2007 Property Press This month, property hotshots Paul Patton and Fiona Guy give some top tips for springtime home selling, and check out West Properties’ latest addition to the Manchester Skyline... If you’re selling this summer, don’t go around the houses… It’s generally this time of year that the major home selling and buying season starts, meaning that you have to present your property at its best to sell in the competitive market. Here’s our top tips for making the best start: How much? This is the most important piece of preparation. You should get at least three estate agents to come and do a ‘no obligation’ valuation. Research the market for similar properties in your area. The time factor Most people favour spring and summer because of the better weather and extra hours of daylight, but people do buy properties all year round. Make sure that you keep up to date on property news, including speculation about mortgage rates. Your agent Don’t just pick the agent who offers the highest valuation, because there’s no guarantee that you’ll get that price. Instead, compare fees and check testimonials and contracts. You may decide to try making multiple listings – although using more than one agent may mean you are liable to pay more than one fee. Once you have an agent stay in regular contact, be firm about progress reports and make sure that they are getting prospective buyers in. Going it alone People are increasingly trying private sales, where you avoid paying commission because you are doing all the work, including advertising and dealing with would-be buyers direct. You can advertise in local newspapers or use the internet – some websites will also help sell your property for a one-off fee, which is often under £100. Legal bits Next, you need a solicitor or conveyancer to deal with the sale. Ring around and get accurate quotes – you don’t want any surprises. Aim for an all-inclusive package. Remember that Home Information Packs (HIPs) will soon be required. Presenting your home De-clutter as much as possible; too many personal items can prevent a potential buyer from seeing themselves living in your home. Make sure that all required basic repairs are done, and that everything is CLEAN! Finally, tidy up outside, and make the entry as inviting as possible. Conducting viewings Make sure that your agent is present for viewings. If you are also present, be relaxed and positive about your property and have information such as utility bills, guarantees and notes about maintenance work ready. Give visitors space to look around for themselves. If you have pets, arrange for them to be out and have an oil burner ready to disguise odours. Offers and completion Know how low you are prepared to go. Get as much information as you can about the buyers’ situation. If you are paying for an agent, use them to deal with the buyers. After a successful offer, the next step is exchanging legal contracts, after which neither side can pull out without losing a lot of money. Before the exchange, solicitors will do their checks, including which fixtures and fittings you are including. Be careful not to forget all of those little things, such as confirming details with your mortgage lender, notifying utility companies and conducting final readings, mail redirection and so on. Good luck and good selling this summer! The Lowdown – Skyline Central by West Properties This month’s lowdown is on West Properties and their stunning Skyline Central development in Manchester city centre. The unique wood-clad development comprises 248 apartments across two buildings and 20 floors. The 5,000 sq ft Elysium leisure suite boasts a jet-black 20m swimming pool, a fully equipped gymnasium, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room – all offering panoramic views of the city. Pretty swanky! Skyline also has a 24-hour concierge, valet car parking, rooftop winter garden with hot-tub and a chill out room. With 70% of the scheme already let, and a number of coveted awards under its belt, Skyline is proving to be quite a success. All apartments at Skyline Central come fully furnished and are Wi-Fi enabled, with average rental prices ranging from a down-to-earth £595pcm to £1900pcm. Visit www.westproperties.co.uk for more info. March 2007 Boasting a jet-black 20 metre rooftop pool, a fully equipped gymnasium, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room, its no surprise that Skyline Central has become the most talked about residential development in Manchester. Skyline Central’s luxurious 5,000 sq ft rooftop leisure suite, named Elysium, is situated on the 18th floor, offers jaw dropping views of the city centre and beyond and is the perfect place to relax and unwind after a hard days work. Launched last month, Elysium is exclusively for residents use. The additional benefits of a 24 hour concierge, valet car parking and a rooftop winter garden with hot tub has led to Skyline being touted as the most luxurious address in the city and the development’s success at last year’s Daily Mail Awards reaffirmed that credibility nationally. West Properties’ Skyline Central comprises 249 apartments, ranging from studios to three bedroom duplexes arranged across two buildings and 20 floors. Average rental prices range from a competitive £595pcm to £1900pcm (depending upon apartment size, floor level and view), so there is an option to suit almost every budget. All apartments come fully-furnished, including kitchen utensils and bed linen and are Wi-Fi enabled. Skyline’s location is perfect - a short five minute walk sees residents in the resurgent heart of the city centre and the development is just a stone’s throw from the Northern Quarter’s eclectic collection of bars, restaurants and shops. With over 70% of the development already let, potential tenants are being urged to view the luxury show apartments at Skyline. The West Properties lettings office is based on the ground floor of the development and is open seven days a week, with the rare option of late night viewing. Skyline Central has arrived hot on the heels of West Properties’ first development in Manchester – the award winning Lumière Building. Offering an exceptional level of luxury, including breathtaking water gardens, a top floor air-conditioned gym and rooftop terrace complete with hot tub, the Lumière Building, situated on City Road East, is seriously fashionable and was fully let within six weeks of being launched to the market. The development swept the board in 2006 with awards from the Manchester Evening News Awards for ‘Best Apartment Scheme 2006’, a five star ‘Daily Mail Award’, a ‘Built in Quality’ award from Manchester City Council and an NHBC ‘Pride in the Job’ award. West Properties’ unique approach to the property market means that both Skyline Central and sister development, The Lumière Building, are available on a rental basis only. Having retained ownership of a number of apartments at both developments and managing properties through its own dedicated estate agency, West Properties ensure that the highest possible standards of service are maintained throughout. Spring 2007 No challenge is too big for the Solaglas’ Structural Contracting team who recently developed a unique installation technique to enable them to deliver an industry first – the installation of geometrically complex glazing units into an angled six storey ‘tower’ situated 17 storeys above the ground! Forming the upper levels of West Properties’ “Skyline Central” development - a prestigious 20-storey residential building situated in the heart of Manchester – Solaglas developed an installation solution that maximised health and safety while making the architect’s ambitious design a reality. Providing the ultimate in luxury accommodation, the Skyline Central building was designed by architects Jacobs Webber and features a six storey glass tower and rooftop leisure suite with a 20 metre jet black swimming pool, steam room, jacuzzi and spa. The Solaglas team designed the 11 tonne steel tower structure, built it at ground level and lifted it into position on the Skyline building’s 17th floor in one piece, reducing the amount of time spent working at height and optimising safety. More than 18 bespoke glazing units, each weighing 420kg, were then lifted up and fitted onto the sides of the structure including its sloping face. Solaglas had to develop an installation technique that could deal with a horizontal gap between the crane hook and structure which at its widest point measured more than four metres. Weather conditions, particularly strong winds, also had to be factored in to calculations. Health and safety was a key concern throughout the project. Fixers were harnessed to the inside of the building to minimise the risk of working at height. Temporary pedestrian exclusion zones were also set up every time a piece of glass was lifted over the footpath below ensuring that members of the public and site workers would be protected should a problem arise. In-depth safety briefings were also held regularly with the entire site team and the client, to ensure safe working methods were implemented at every stage and any safety concerns were addressed immediately. SGG LITE-WALL system was used to create a flush frameless external finishes, SGG SECURIT toughened and heat-soaked units for glazing around the swimming pool and a Schüco silicone glazing system fitted with SGG SECURIT and PLANITHERM units for gymnasium screening.