http://crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps...cautionary-tale

The site of the Glassworks may face an uncertain future, but just 1,000m away along Great Ancoats Street, Artisan's Albion Works development is proving to be a cautionary tale for investors looking for property on the fringes of the city centre.

The Pollard Street development, which was first released for sale in December 2004, has seen prices plummet since then, in some case falling by half in less than two years.

The converted biscuit factory also incorporates the Ovale building, a circular glass structure, below left. Initially, apartments sold well but resale values have decreased dramatically, as a slowing market and a glut of new developments in the city forced investors in the development to accept huge losses.

Details of transactions on nine properties in Albion Works reveal a collective drop in values of £773,555 in the space of around three years.

Apartment B1, currently on the market with Jordan Fishwick at £117,000, sold for £227,500 in April 2005 — a dip of £110,000.

Some properties up for auction are advertising guide prices as low as £85,000 — such as Apartment A16, which sold for £171,000 in December 2004, and A14, which raised £164,950 in May 2005. And although guide prices tend to be set at around 10 per cent less than market value, it still represents a significant reduction.

Two apartments in the development, A33 and A34, recently sold at auction with Allsop for £110,000 less than the price paid in the middle of 2005.

Glen Rudge, of Manchester city centre estate agent Hunters, said that the location and lack of any amenities nearby could have caused the drop-off in price.

“It has been stood on its own as a development for quite a while, which probably hasn't done it any favours,” he said. “There are some developments going on around it now — City Lofts, ISIS and New Islington — which may actually lift the area and put Albion Mill in more of a community.”

Jason Millett, deputy chief executive of Artisan Property Group, said that the drop in values was “hopefully a blip”.

He added: “There's a real critical mass in that area now and the city is growing out towards Ancoats. It hasn't affected demand for The Vulcan next door.”

New Islington Thanks marketing gurus! That is funny in such a subtle way!

wtf is the glassworks?

Does New Islington=Old Ancoats?