From the plans for capital growth

Manchester: An interesting investment opportunity has come on the market in the centre of Manchester where a top class apartment scheme is going for sale off the plans. The Edge development is being marketed in Ireland by the Prestige Group which is quoting £166,000 sterling for one-bedroom apartments and £224,000 for two-bedroom units. Jack Fagan reports.

The 10-year-old Prestige Group, which placed over €150 million of Irish investor funds into the UK and eastern European property in 2003, usually acquires apartments off the plans before selling them on to investors.

The group claims that by purchasing units off the plans, in some cases up to three years before completion, investors will get the benefit of full capital growth during the construction period.

In the present case, the company has 39 units for sale out of a total of 275 in The Edge. Investors are being asked to pay a 5 per cent deposit at contract stage for the homes which are due to be completed in February 2005.

Car-parking spaces will cost an extra £25,000. The Edge will have a riverside location next to Manchester's Lowry Hotel and within easy walking distance of the Triangle retail centre and the main business district. It will also be about 10 minutes' walk from Victoria train station and 20 minutes' drive from Manchester Airport.

The Prestige Group promise that it will have "five-star quality services" and a high standard of fit-out including walnut solid wood flooring, floor-to-ceiling doors, Italian Meson kitchens, bathroom sanitary ware by Villeroy & Boch, electric key and high spec technology for Internet access throughout the apartment.

On top of this, the apartments will have 24-hour concierge, laundry and valet parking. Purchasers who buy their apartments through the Prestige Group will get six months free subscription towards the cost of a service manager.

Prestige says that the service manager "will tend to the purchaser's every need, from relocation services, arranging travel, entertainment bookings and personal shopping to maid, butler and chauffeur services".

In Navan, we call it the wife.