PALMYRA SQUARE DEVELOPMENT -------------------------- The development has a total of 47 apartments, comprising mainly of 1 & 2 bedroom apartments. There is also at least one three-bedroom penthouse. However, now only four remain! Apartment Details/Secification ------------------------------ - F/F Lounge/Dining Room - Luxury Italian Kitchen - Luxury bathroom - Modern bedroom with walk in robes - Video entrance technology - 24 hour Secure car parking - Electric gate entrance to apartments Location Details ---------------- - Palmyra Square is in the heart of Warrington Town Centre - 2 minute walk from 'Golden Square Shopping Centre' (Warrington's shopping centre) - Next door to: Restaurant, Gymnasium, Caf?ar - Opposite to: - Queen's Gardens, - Solicitors offices, - Newly developed multi-million pound art centre - Performance Hall - This location is to be called the 'cultural quarter' Travel ------ - 2 train stations (London to Glasgow & Cross Country) less than 5 mins walk - Bus station less than 5 mins walk - 20 mins drive from Manchester airport - 20 mins drive from Liverpool airport - Motorway access to M6, M62, M56 (approx 10 mins drive) Socialising/Exercise -------------------- - Many Reataurants/bars/clubs less than 5 mins walk - Swimming baths less than 5 mins walk - Library, Museum less than 5 mins walk - Golden Square shopping centre less than 5 mins walk Some Interesting points about this development - A unique development with no other similar developments in Warrington Town centre. Also there is no scope for such another development in this location. - Development is opposite the 'Queens Gardens'. A planning application has been submitted to upgrade the gardens - £100m development to improve the Golden Square shopping centre has been given the green light by John Prescott. This could bring in around 1,000 new jobs and a new modern transport interchange. - 'Warrington Community Resource Centre' will be established over the coming months, bringing together potentially 60 organisations. This will be opposite the development. 5 Interesting stats about Warrington! ------------------------------------- - 'Business Strategies' report on UK employment ranks Warrington as the second most successful location in terms of growth in the number of employees during the 1990s. - Barclay's Bank identifies Warrington as the third richest location in the North West, with an average income of £23,144. - Unemployment continues to fall and is currently below both national and regional averages. - Warrington has been boosted by a number of significant proposals, most notably the OMEGA development, which could create upto 40,000 jobs. - Warrington is still trying to get city status Risks/Concerns -------------- - There are three other developments of apartments in Warrington. These include Great Sankey, Winwick Park and Stockton Heath. However, none of these are in Warrington Town centre and none appear to have the same profile as the Palmyra Square Development. - It is important to note that the likely rent achievable from a 2 bed apartment is £650 to £750pcm. A rental income of £650 will give a 5% gross yield. - Competition for letting the apartments initially will be fierce as apartments are coming to the market at the same time. Also November/December are not the best times for renting property. Therefore it is vital to maintain a positive cash-flow so that you can maintain loan repayments in void periods. - It is possible that as new residential developments increase, then so could the number of luxury apartments. It is very unlikely that a development of similar size and profile will occur in this location in the near future. Therefore, it should remain as a unique development in the town centre. - You must view this investment as a minimum 7-10 year investment. - There is no guarantee that property prices will increase! Useful Contacts --------------- The developer for this location is Prestigious Living, and they can be contacted at the development on: 01925 575021. Useful letting agents in the Warrington Area: Edwards Grounds www.edwardsgrounds.co.uk 01925 230999 Griffin Estates www.griffin-estates.com 01925 470446 Robert Jordan & Associates www.robertjordan.co.uk 01925 474747 Cheers Amer amer@propertysecrets.net

Folks, For all those who have invested or are considering investing in this development then the following newswires will be of interest. ** New £6.4m bus station gets green light ** The Government has approved plans to build a new £6.4 million bus interchange in Warrington. The project will create a facility that will be accessible, safe and pleasant to use, unlike the present bus station, says Warrington South MP Helen Southworth. The interchange will be linked with Warrington Central train station to make public transport more accessible to all passengers, especially those in wheelchairs and with other mobility problems. The planners aim to make the interchange a landmark, improving to appearance of the town centre and creating a hub of activity with shops, cafes and information centres. The Palmyra Square development will be within 5 mins walk of the development. ** Queen's Gardens facelift given the green light ** LONG-awaited plans to reshape Warrington's town centre Queen's Gardens have been given the green light by councillors. The scheme - which aims to revitalise the gardens in Palmyra Square while also preserving their historic features - was unanimously approved by the borough council's development control committee. They have the backing of local businesses - unlike two years ago when a much bigger scheme was put forward and caused a storm of protest. The new proposals should preserve the atmosphere of an area originally developed in the mid-19th century as a high class residential area but now part of the emerging "cultural quarter" of the town. The new plans retain more of the gardens' traditional features. They have been drawn up in partnership with English Heritage, Warrington Civic Society and the Palmyra Square Stakeholders Group, which includes councillors, council officers, businesses and organisations in the town centre. At the western end there will seating around a circular performance area and two water features. The eastern end, with the statue of Boer War hero Colonel McCarthy O'Leary, will be retained in its current form. "Natural art" features - through the planting of trees to be trained over a central path - will be located at either end. New planting and retention of many existing trees will create a parkland landscape - although a number of trees which are unsafe, dying or dead will be removed. * The author has a beneficial interest in that the author has invested in this development. Cheers Amer (amer@propertysecrets.net)

In December I wrote an investment report highlighting the Palmyra square development in Warrington. Well this is just a quick update on the development! 5 Still Remain! ------------------- Well even I was a little surprised to find that more apartments are available than when I first recommended the development. However, further investigation reveal that only last week one purchaser pulled out of buying three penthouses on the top floor, and another penthouse buyer has also recently pulled out! So what remains? ------------------------ - 4 Penthouses on the top floor priced from £142,500 - 1 2-bed apartment on 1st floor priced at £124,750 I don't think that the investor should consider the penthouses, as the 1 bed penthouse starts from £142,500 and the rental income for these will only be marginally higher than a 1 bed apartment, which were originally £55K less in value. This means that the only feasible option for the investor is to consider the last remaining 1st floor 2-bed apartment, which is positioned towards the back of the development. I spoke to the sales manager about this remaining apartment and know that they are prepared to drop the price by £1,000. However, I think that if you are serious about the apartment then you may be able to squeeze some more off the asking price! Remember, if you don't ask you don't get! This is in stark contrast to last year where they were only offering £500 discount as absolute maximum! Outlook for Development ------------------------------------ - Well expect work to start on upgrading the Queen's gardens in late spring or late summer. This work will initially involve upgrading the some of the paths, but other work is also in the pipeline. Remember, this location is referred to as the 'Cultural Quarter' for Warrington and investment will continue in this area over the long-term. - The initial influx of properties coming onto the market has gone and the leading letting agent in the area (Robert Jordans 01925 474747), who has the majority of the investment properties, says they are letting much easier now. 1 bed apartments are fetching around £600pcm and the two beds are between £650 and £725pcm. - Capital growth. My thought on this is that once this last remaining potential investment property sells then we are in the hands of the estate agents. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that they will dramatically increase in value. However, I would expect steady growth, especially given the fact that some of the two-bed apartments outside the town centre are now priced around or in excess of the value of the existing non-penthouse apartment. Also, remember there are less than 50 apartments on this whole development. Summary ------------- I must admit I am surprised that this development has not fully sold out yet. I am even more surprised when I hear that more than more than one buyer has pulled out at the last minute. However it is clear that the investors who reserved the penthouses are the ones who are returning them. This should not cause any concern as like I said, I don't believe that they make good investment opportunities, not unless you can heavily subsidise the rental income. Also, as I said in my last monthly update, the current economic climate has created uncertainty and this makes people nervous. As many subscribers know, I have invested in this development. I have absolutely no intentions of selling up in the short term - definitely one for the long-term for me! I will keep you posted about other developments in this area! Cheers Amer