Axis flats selling strongly

Development Securities said more than half of the 172 flats in the proposed Axis residential tower in central Manchester, a joint venture with Property Alliance Group, have been reserved off plan already.

Planning permission for the 27-storey 153,000 sq ft residential tower at the end of Deansgate Locks was secured in November. The building was designed by 5plus Architects. JLL is marketing the apartments. The prices of the apartments reserved were not disclosed. Marketing material offers investors expected rental yields of 6-7% a year.

Central Manchester's apartment market is running at close to full occupancy and thousands more units are now planned in the next wave of development to meet demand from the city's growing population.

The update on Axis was provided in Development Securities' trading statement for the period from 22 October 2014 to date.

Directors said the business was on track to hit expectations for the full year and a special dividend of 8p a share, worth £10m, will be paid on top of the final year dividend. Shares in the company rose 7p to 244p.

In a separate announcement today, DevSec said chief executive Michael Marx was to stand down in July 2015 and Matthew Weiner would be promoted from director to chief executive. Richard Upton will become deputy chief executive.