United front on Manchester

Manchester is the latest UK city to attract Irish investors in droves. In recent weeks, Hamilton Osborne King quietly sold 27 loft-style apartments in downtown Manchester on behalf of Urban Splash. The apartments ranged in priced from £85,000 to £180,000 sterling. Now it is launching City Central, a development in "the equivalent of Grafton Street", according to selling agent Ronan O'Driscoll. The apartments will occupy the top 12 floors of a 24-storey block, the lower floors being taken up by a hotel. One-bedroom apartments will start from £107,950. Plans can be viewed today, tomorrow and Saturday at the Shelbourne Hotel.