One Smithfield Square, the important final piece in the £120m regeneration scheme of Smithfield, Manchester, has enjoyed significant capital growth in the five years since its completion.

Located in the heart of the Northern Quarter, the development offers 77 one, two and three bedroom apartments with balconies and terraces offering views of the city. One Smithfield Square also benefits from a city centre location with excellent transport links, sandwiched between Manchester’s two major train stations. It was also awarded Best Apartment Building at The Sunday Times British Homes Awards 2015.

With a head office in Oxford, GRE Assets largely operates in the South, but a lack of supply of new build apartments in the Northern Quarter led the company investing in Manchester. The affordability of the area, along with wider regeneration, the city’s reputation as an ‘economic powerhouse’ and previous investment with GRE Assets, garnered interest from both UK and international investors.

This investment in One Smithfield Square has seen tangible results in the past five years. In 2016 an average two bedroom apartment had increased in price by around 45% since its completion. The development also received an annualised capital growth of 4.68% (2020), which is notably higher than the UK national average of 2.2%.¹

GRE Assets credits early investment in regeneration schemes and responding to demand as the key to generating significant returns. Michael El-Kassir, Managing Director of GRE Assets, said:

“One Smithfield Square has proved a landmark development for GRE Assets, as it was our first major development away from the South of England. We turned our attention to the fastest growing core city in the UK, and more specifically the Northern Quarter, to address a demand for city-centre apartments.

“As an investment company, we pride ourselves on the return on investment we can offer our clients and One Smithfield Square is certainly a success story. Affordable investment and continued capital growth have meant that our investors have achieved fantastic returns. We attribute these results to identifying the opportunity that Manchester presented early, which is an approach we adopt with all of our developments.

“Five years on since the completion of One Smithfield Square, Manchester is starting to face an over-supply of housing as developers continue to flock to the capital of the North. Responding to demand is vital in ensuring our developments reflect the needs of local people. This approach has brought both us, and our investors, great success in Manchester.”

¹https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/housepriceindex/november2019