Eden Hazard Wooed by Man City on Tour of Manchester Property Scene
Reports emerged at the end of last week that Manchester City football club have taken their primary summer transfer prospect Eden Hazard on a tour of the Manchester property market to stop him defecting to their arch-rivals Manchester United.
Man City are very keen to add the 21-year-old Lille player to their front line next summer season, and have been courting Hazard since March. Man Utd and Spurs are also after the Belgian footballer, and City is hoping to gain the edge over them by taking him on a trip around the Manchester property scene – including luxury properties in the greater Manchester and Cheshire areas – and inviting him to let them know which homes appeal to him.
Last Monday he was at Manchester's Etihad stadium to see City beat United 1-0, and the Daily Mail reported that after spending the night in the city, he was taken to view houses in Alderley Edge and Prestbury.
Hazard currently pulls in £30 million playing for Lille, and the potential salary consequences of a move to Man City, not to mention the added expense of buying him a home from the top end of the Manchester property market, is causing complications, with some board members reportedly unsure about his relative lack of experience.
Yorkshire Businessman Loses Case Over Manchester Property Snatch
The High Court rejected claims by a Yorkshire developer this week that he was “robbed” of a Manchester property site by a business rival.
Controversial property developer Trevor Guy claimed that he was left millions of pounds out of pocket when the Manchester brownfield site was “fraudulently transferred” to a company in Gibraltar by lawyers acting for businesman Shaid Luqman in 2004.
He was suing three separate law firms for their valuation of the 47.5 acre Manchester property asset, making the claim in court that they were negligent and “facilitated” the fraudulent transfer of the site to Mr Luqman, who had manipulated the lawyers for his own nefarious ends.
However, presiding judge Sir William Blackburne let two of the firms completely off the hook, and declared that the admission of a “breach of duty” by the third caused Mr Guy no material losses with regard to the Manchester property.
Sir William was also highly critical of Mr Guy's behaviour as a witness, noting that “it was rarely possible to get a straight answer out of him.”
“Mr Guy ducked and weaved and twisted at nearly every turn. Cracking jokes and making 'irrelevant comments on the state of the world',” the judge said that “I had the impression that his conduct both as an advocate in his own cause from his position in counsel’s row and as a witness on oath from the witness box was all part of a grand performance.”
Mr Guy will now have to pay full legal costs.
Altrincham and Hale Property Market Praised by Guardian
The Guardian newspaper gave a boost to the Manchester property market yesterday when the weekend's “Let's Move To...” section focused on the “ general swankiness and astonishingly good schools” of Altrincham and Hale.
The feature noted the recent influx of BBC employees, thanks to the opening of the MediaCityUK development at Trafford Docks, and claimed that this had “added to the gene pool” of the Manchester property sector in the area.
It also hailed Altrincham as “leafy and rich” and noted its very close proximity to Manchester Airport and its convenient closeness to both the M56 and the M60, plus the regular Metrolink trams into Manchester city centre and the trains to Manchester Piccadilly and Chester – making the transport links among the best on the whole Manchester property scene.
In fact, there were no downsides mentioned at all, apart perhaps from the description of property in Altrincham and Hale as “delightful if pricey”, due to the prevalence of period semi-detached and detached properties. It noted, however, that it was possible to snap up a four-bedroom period semi for just under £250,000, meaning that the opportunities are certainly out there.
Italian Restauranteur Invests in Manchester Property Scene
Further evidence of the vibrancy and profitability of the Manchester property sector emerged this week with the news that Italian restaurant owner Bo Khan has opened his first 100-head eatery in the city.
Mr Khan, is also taking advantage of the positive situation to get a foot in the door with the Manchester property scene, following the opening of the Per Tutti restaurant on Liverpool Road. The £1.45m investment has seemingly paid off already, with the site already hitting its financial targets and a second outlet for the Greater Manchester area already in the pipeline.
“I saw Liverpool Road as a growth opportunity. The area is constantly developing and there are already some great restaurants in the same location attracting visitors to the area,” Mr Khan told the Manchester Evening News.
“Although there are several Italian restaurants in the city, we wanted an offering that served simple Italian dishes made from scratch. Everything from the pizza dough to the ravioli is made by our chefs in the kitchen. Customers want authentic cuisine and business has been doing well.”
The entrepeneur added that he wishes to consolidate his hold on the Manchester property scene by obtaining a new site every year over the next five years.
Manchester Property Investment Draws Envious Gazes from London’s Authorities
Reports this week showed that other cities are seeking to emulate Manchester's innovative approach to investment, with London particularly interested in the success of the Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund.
The fund is the key tool in the investment programme of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) – a pool of the pension funds held by 10 local authorities, schools, colleges and housing trusts. The GPMF has earmarked some 5 per cent of its funds to invest in the Manchester property sector.
Its director of pensions Pete Morris told the Financial Times this week that the Manchester property investments were especially aimed at bringing new life to old industrial sites, adding: “The bulk of our local property investment is targeted at commercial opportunities, and it has the twin aims of commercial returns and helping the local area.”
So far, the Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund has developed over a million square feet of commercial buildings in the area, making a profit on each project.
MMU to Sell-Off Several Campus Sites
Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) is creating opportunities in the Manchester property sector following its decision to sell off some five campus sites throughout the city.
The university has around 35,000 students, many of who are housed at the seven or so campus sites owned by MMU. Its administrators, however, have decided to concentrate its first-year and research students on just two sites, in the city centre and the town of Alsager in Cheshire. The central Manchester property boasts new lecture halls, classrooms and offices on its new £350 million Birley Fields campus in Hulme – right next to its existing Oxford Road buildings – while
As a result, MMU is able to sell its surplus sites on the Manchester property market, with properties up for grabs including the Aytoun Street campus in Manchester city centre, the former teacher training site in Didsbury, the Elizabeth Gaskell and Hollings sites in Fallowfield and much of the Alsager site.
The property sell-off will take place peace-meal, as sites are only due to go up for sale when the buildings on them become vacant.
Man U Seeks to Expand Manchester Property Portfolio
International footballing juggernaut Manchester United could soon be moving more squarely into the Manchester property scene, if reports out this week are anything to go by.
The club is apparently considering buying properties on the Trafford Park industrial estate, which is close to the team's iconic ground.
The Manchester property portfolio that Man U is sniffing around at the moment belongs to industrial property concern Segro, which has recently put some £1.6 billion of its assets on the market.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that the football club is looking at obtaining any number of the dozen properties up for sale in the Trafford Park area. It has previously bought three of the sites on the industrial estate, in October last year, but remains tight-lipped about its specific plans for the Manchester property buys, with a spokesman merely saying that “if land becomes available in the vicinity we are always interested."
Manchester Property Movers and Shakers Attend MIPIM 2012 in Cannes
Hundreds of Manchester property professionals flew to the south of France at the start of this month for this year's MIPIM (Marché International des Professionnels d'Immobilier) property convention.
Described as the "market for international property trade", the convention in Cannes aimed to showcase property development, conferences and investment opportunities, while giving plenty of opportunities for networking over the four-day period.
A group of some 46 business organisations involved in Manchester property took a special chartered flight from Manchester Airport, organised by umbrella organisation MIPIM Partnership, led by Marketing Manchester and supported by the Manchester City Council.
Based at the convention's “Manchester Stand”, their aim was to use their time to highlight Manchester's key regeneration schemes and discuss issues affecting the city’s future prosperity in front of a global audience.
Marketing Manchester chief executive Andrew Stokes told the Manchester Evening News: “MIPIM provides an opportunity for the Partnership to share with the wider development and investment world the emerging plans for the city and the contribution they will make to lead the region through recovery.”
Manchester Property Boom on Back of ‘Airport City’?
A massive revitalisation of the Wythenshawe area is helping to fuel a miniature Manchester property boom, reports this week revealed.
A £650 million development around Manchester Airport, known as Airport City, is taking place, following a government announcement at the start of the year that the area was now an “enterprise zone” with fast-track planning and financial incentives to attract Manchester property developers.
The scheme plans to create a new urban centre for the Manchester area, containing a combination of offices, retail and leisure facilities and hotels – as well as a second zone concentrating on freight and logistics close to the airport's present cargo zone off junction six of the M56.
The Metrolink network is being extended to the airport and a new tram stop is being build on Shadowmoss Road, slated to open in 2016.
Manchester City Council believes that the development will create thousands of new jobs, revitalise the local economy and improve transport links. Furthermore, it will act as a filip for the Manchester property scene in the area, with higher property values for people already living in the Wythenshawe area and new builds acting as a sound future investment.
Manchester’s Architectural Heritage – the Video Tour
Take a trip through the fascinating history of the Manchester property scene with knowledgeable city tour guide Ed Glinert.
Ed has been taking groups around Manchester for years, and knows the city’s most buildings literally inside out.
In this video, he uses the examples of famous Manchester property landmarks such as the Beetham Tower, Lee House, Manchester Town Hall, the Radisson Edwardian Hotel and the Friends Meeting House to illustrate how the city has found its architectural inspiration not only from its own history and development, but also from various other sources around the globe. Enjoy the tour!