A trio of Manchester City stars have shunned the traditional footballers’ haunt of Cheshire for luxury city centre flats.
Manager Pep Guardiola and footballers David Silva and Raheem Sterling have all signed up to take serviced apartments at Select Property Group’s CitySuites in Salford, Greater Manchester.
The 260 one and two-bedroom serviced apartments have been branded “the most desirable address in Manchester” offering a “new era of accommodation”. Prices for two-bedroom flats in the sold-out development start at £345,000.
The players will be a short walk from Manchester City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain, who has bought a £1.1m flat in Century Buildings at 1 Deansgate.
The deals are indicative of a wider evolution of a central Manchester luxury residential market. High-end buyers are swapping suburban mansions for prime penthouses, partly due to the increasing popularity of inner city living and the string of high-specification residential developments coming to market.
Fifteen years ago Manchester’s first £1m flat was sold, with Deansgate’s Century Buildings and the Beetham Tower among the first luxury city centre developments.
Today, Property Alliance Group and U+I’s two penthouses at their 30-storey Axis Tower on nearby Albion Street are being marketed for £2.9m and £2.4m. It is due to complete at the end of 2018.
Alex Russell, director at PAG, said: “We have noticed an unprecedented level of demand in our luxury residential product at Axis, Oxygen and 36 George Street, as Manchester continues to improve its attraction both locally and overseas.
“Outperforming all other UK cities, including London, the ever-improving leisure and transport offer makes the city centre a very appealing place to live as an alternative to the suburbs.
“We have several enquiries for the two penthouses at over £700 per sq ft.”
Average prime residential values in Manchester are around £450 per sq ft and the price of an average prime two-bedroom flat is £250,000, according to CBRE.
JLL predicts that a prime two-bedroom city centre flat will see a 5.3% increase in value to the end of next year.
Rising demand is underpinned by economic growth in the North West, with employment forecast at the start of the year to rise by 4.3% in the next five years and Manchester is predicted to grow by 2,800 households every year until 2020.
Ballymore is looking to take advantage of this trend and is selling its 710-flat Piccadilly Central tower project for around £25m.
The 60-storey tower is “one of the most high-profile prime residential development opportunities in the city”, said CBRE director Alistair Chapman, who is acting on the sale.
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