Getting Corrie’d away
Exciting news reached us this week from auctioneers SDL Graham Penny – the forthcoming sale of what they describe as “one of the country’s most famous addresses”, 1 Coronation Street! Just imagine living on those iconic cobbles – in Ken Barlow’s decades-long home, no less!
Ah, but reading on, we see that this Coronation Street isn’t in Weatherfield, it’s in Stoke-on-Trent. We’ve been hoodwinked! What next, an Albert Square flat not in the East End but the West Country? 28 Ramsay Street, Edinburgh?
Still, any Corrie fanatics looking to live out their soap opera dream should check out the auction on 16 March, with the guide price a rather tempting £35,000.
Unlike its TV namesake, the property can’t offer a pub, bistro, garage, newsagent, corner shop, hairdressers, kebab takeaway and knicker factory all on your doorstep. But, on the upside, the murder rate can only be lower.
All the world’s a stage…
…and developers are major players, in Manchester at least. The business of property and the business of show are mingling in the city.
It started with Bruntwood’s sponsorship of the Royal Exchange Theatre’s annual writing award – the Bruntwood Prize. Now others are moving in, eyeing the chance to appeal to the ideal market for their Manchester PRS schemes – young, trendy theatre-goers.
Now Capital & Centric, which is developing its Kampus site on Aytoun Street in a joint venture with Henry Boot, is getting in on the act. C&C is sponsoring a play at the charming, eccentric Three Minute Theatre – a more Manc venue you could not find, we are told. The production, Dancing, even has industry connections – it’s written by property journalist and long-time EG freelancer, David Thame. It runs from 16-19 March, and tickets are available at www.threeminutetheatre.co.uk/buy-tickets.
With Thame’s pedigree, Diary can only hope that regional real estate matters loom large in the plot. At the very least, he promises a “sexy reference to chartered surveyors”. The mind boggles…
For the birds
Sometimes, a press release lands in Diary’s inbox with a headline that is impossible to ignore. For example, this week’s highlight: Brits embracing urban birding. It might sound a little like something Sid James would get up to in a Carry On film, but fear not – we’re talking twitching.
Word reaches us – from, of all places, laptopsdirect.co.uk – that celebrities including Blur’s Damon Albarn are at the vanguard of a new generation of “urban birders”, who can’t get enough of our feathered friends, and are using modern technology such as high-tech cameras and drones to get the best shots of avian action.
What’s that got to do with commercial property, you ask? Well, across the pond, LA’s hipster Ace Hotel holds regular Birds and Booze events, where punters can do a spot of spotting from its trendy rooftop while sipping bird-inspired cocktails. So it’s surely only a matter of time before the craze reaches London’s skyline. Time to make your buildings a bit more bird-friendly? Sounds like a lark.
