Luvthecity Blog
Media City Photo Timeline
Tuesday, March 9th 2010
We've found a great site dedicated to the redevelopment of Media City at Salford Quays. Mark Whitfield has worked in Salford Quays since August 1995 and has been photographing the Media City site since 2007. If you want to see how much the area has changed, check out his photo timeline...



Mark Whitfield's Media City Timeline
Click here




Luvthecity Welcomes Venmores!
Monday, March 8th 2010
We're delighted to welcome on board Nick, Darren and the team at Venmores in central Liverpool. We've chosen our ten favourite apartments from Venmores; from glamourous penthouses above the Hilton at Liverpool One to cute loft apartments in the Rope Works...



Five to rent

The Ability Penthouses £1100 click here
44 Pall Mall Penthouse £950 click here
The X Building £900 click here
The Ability Penthouses £750 click here
Cornwallis Court £550 click here

Five to buy
Beetham Tower £375,000 click here
Waterloo Warehouse £189,950 click here
44 Pall Mall £145,000 click here
Dukes Terrace £129,950 click here
The Focus Building £89,950 click here



Get Your Kit Off For Salford
Monday, March 8th 2010
Well the sun is finally out (after a grim few weeks) so why not get your kit off in Salford Quays?! Legendary artist Spencer Tunick (of the naked people fame, not the teacakes!) is coming to Salford to celebrate the Lowry's 10th Year Anniversary and he's looking for participants. If you're feeling brave apply here



Can Leeds lead a northern property revival?
Friday, March 5th 2010
With more than 92 per cent of the 3,153 rented apartments managed by the city’s main agents occupied, it’s farewell to flat-flipping and hello to green spaces and family houses...
Full Story Click here



Spinning Around
Thursday, March 4th 2010
It's sunny in Manchester today so the Luvthecity team are singing happy songs; a bit of Katrina & The Waves here, a bit of Spinning Around by Kylie there... and talking of spinning around (see what we did there?!) here's a fab site we've found where you can take a peek around apartments
Saxton @ Leeds
Chips @ Manchester
... and building sites too! Media City @ Salford Quays



Luvthecity Welcomes Morgans!
Wednesday, March 3rd 2010
We're delighted to welcome on board Jonathan and the team at Morgan's City Living. Morgans have been working in central Leeds since 1997 and they rent and sell some of the best apartments in Leeds from their city centre offices at No.1 Dock Street. We've chosen our ten favourite apartments from Morgans; they range in style and price from great-value loft apartments to imposing penthouses...

Five to rent
Simpson's Fold £1600 click here
One Brewery Wharf £1200 click here
22 Park Row £1100 click here
Saxton £700 click here
Centaur House £575 click here

Five to buy
Park House Apartments £399,000 click here
No.1 Dock Street £220,000 click here
Bridge Lofts £199,990 click here
Millwright £135,000 click here
Skyline Apartments £105,000 click here



Meet Our Competition Winners!
Tuesday, March 2nd 2010


Congratulations to our competition winners James Gilhooly and partner Jenny Maloney. They were picked live on air from the thousands of people that entered our Pin To Your Pad competition on Galaxy Manchester. Read all about their lucky win here



Luvthecity's New Twitter Ideas
Monday, March 1st 2010
We've been busy behind the scenes thinking about how we use Twitter and how it can benefit you... yes, you!!! Our current Tweets are doing so well that we've looking to launch a new service which will (hopefully!!!!) list every new apartment for sale and rent in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester city centre. If you have any suggestions about what we can do with Twitter (except perve over Ashton Kutcher's washing) please send us an email!






New Month, New Century
Monday, March 1st 2010
Apartments in Century Buildings, Manchester's best apartment block, are pretty rare and the second they're on the market they're let, so here are two new ones, fresh on the market today. Grab 'em while you can!
2-bed with Garden Views @ £1400 click here
1-bed with 34" Plasma @ £825 click here



The New Asbo App
Friday, February 26th 2010
Here at Luvthecity we're always on the lookout for interesting things to help us decide which area we should move to and which ones we should avoid - and now we have a new toy. The Asborometer App for the iPhone tells you instantly how many ASBOs have been issued in your local area... just type in your postcode! (although if the number's high, we wouldn't recommend flashing your new toy around!)
See the ASBO App here



Luvthecity Gremlins!!!
3.30pm Thursday, February 25th 2010
We're in the middle of making some changes to Luvthecity - a few cute tricks to make surfing and finding property even easier. But over the next 24-hours you may see some gremlins on the site - so if you spot any mistakes or have some suggestions please get in touch here



Four New Favourites From Leeds
Thursday, February 25th 2010
Here are four apartments in two of our favourite blocks in Leeds, fresh on the market today! Clarence House is the landmark tower in Clarence Dock and Roberts Wharf is the gorgeous warehouse conversion on the north side of the River Aire. We'll remember Roberts Wharf because one of our photographers got chased off the site when he was trying to photograph the building, all in the name of "data protection" apparently. Sometimes this nanny state has gone too far!
Clarence House 2-bed @ £725 click here
Clarence House 1-bed @ £550 click here
Roberts Wharf 2-bed @ £750 click here
Roberts Wharf 1-bed @ £625 click here



Hundreds and Thousands
Thursday, February 25th 2010
Did anyone notice how Luvthecity was flooded with new adverts this morning? Doh!!!! Our tech team are tinkering with the site to give everyone a quicker and better service and in our haste we uploaded a few (ahem) more properties than normal... doh! So apologies for that and thanks to eagle-eye Luvthecity user Sarah. Right, back to normal again... now, where were we???



Duplexes - and plenty of 'em!!!
Wednesday, February 24th 2010
There are plenty of 2-bed apartments for rent in Manchester, but Duplexes are pretty rare - so it's great to see so many come on the market at the same time. From warehouse conversions in Ancoats to contemporary new-build in Castlefield, here are four of today's best...
City South @ £1250 click here
Jewel House @ £1050 click here
Albion Mill @ £675 click here
The Wentwood @ £795 click here



Run The Manchester Mile
Tuesday, February 23rd 2010
Fancy exercising off those Gregg's pasties? The luvthecity team will be pulling on our lycra shorts (eeugggh) and running for Sport Relief... and this year it's running right through the Corrie set!
Run the Manchester Mile click here



They Sold Off All The Housing... What Next?
Monday, February 22nd 2010
According to David Cameron, the Tories are planning to revolutionise the current planning system in what he calls "one of the biggest shifts in power for decades". Targets and unelected quangos will be scrapped, to be replaced with a democratic system to promote local homes. Hmmmm, well considering the Torie's last stab at 'promoting local homes' resulted in the selling off of a high percentage of the country's social housing stock, we're not sure how well this new plan will work. But that's enough moaning from us, here's the spin, sorry, the story, in full...
Press Release click here
Download the Green Paper click here

And talking of Tories, we're loving all the Cameron Parody posters. Here's our favourite, more tomorrow...
Airbrushed For Change click here



Council Leaders: 'Landlords Exploit New Rules'
Monday, February 22nd 2010
Landlords are exploiting high housing benefit rates set by the Government to push up rents in the private sector, council leaders claim today. They argue that private landlords set their rents at £1 or £2 below the maximum allowed by the Department for Work and Pensions, which has led to rents of almost £2,000 a week
Full Story click here



St. Peter's Square Regeneration
Monday, February 22nd 2010
St. Peter's Square in central Manchester takes another step forward in its bid for regeneration. A consortium of site owners and investors have come together to create a new vision for the central site. We're all up for a little bit of positive regeneration, but we're not sure about the new building that's planned to replace the so-called 'eyesore' Elisabeth House. It looks too much like the bland monstrosity that ruined Piccadilly Gardens. I'm sure our friends at the Manchester Modernist Society would agree...
Full Story click here
Love 1960s Concrete? click here



Mortgage Lending at 10-year Low
Friday, February 19th 2010
Mortgage lending fell to a 10-year low in January, figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed today. Gross lending fell to an estimated £9.1bn during the month, a 32% fall on December's figure and 21% lower than in January last year.
Full Story click here



Well Done, Love
Thursday, February 18th 2010
Congratulations to Peter Kay for making the Brits watchable for the first time in years! We loved his flatly delivered put-down; calling Robbie Williams 'Stoke-on-Trent's answer to Shakin' Stevens and smiling at Lady Gaga when she won and slipping a quiet 'well done, love' as she walked off stage. Some people are saying Peter -v- Liam is dividing Mancheser, we just think PK was the first to say what we were all thinking!
PK's Putdown click here
Facebook Tribute click here



Tenants Make a Comeback
Wednesday, February 17th 2010
Britain has been in thrall to the idea of home ownership for half a century. But levels peaked four years ago at 71% of households, and according to a report this week, long-term private renting is set to make a comeback...
Full story click here



Hunters Join Luvthecity
Tuesday, February 16th 2010
We're delighted to welcome Hunters to Luvthecity! Carrie and the team in Leeds and Glynn and team in Manchester are the newest agents to sign up ... follow them on Twitter here. And whilst we're on the subject of new agents, we're working on some great new features for estate agents on Luvthecity (in a social networking styleee) so watch this space!


HUNTERS @ LEEDS
Merchants Quay @ £650,000 Click here
The Quays @ £175,000 Click here
Simpson's Fold @ £159,950 Click here


HUNTERS @ MANCHESTER
The Edge @ £595,000 Click here
No.1 Deansgate @ £289,950 Click here
Model Lodging House@ £215,000 Click here



National Chip Week (mmmmmmm)
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Hurrah... it's National Chip Week! So we're ditching the diet (what diet?) and celebrating with a big fat portion of chips from Armstrongs in Prestwich (we know, it's not in the city centre, but those portions are HUGE!). But if you're looking for chips in Liverpool or Manchester city centre, here's our guide to the Top 10...
Liverpool's Top 10 Chippies Click here
Manchester's Top 10 Chippies Click here

(PS. We're still researching the best chippies in Leeds - suggestions on a postcard please!)



New releases at Candle House
Monday, February 15th, 2010
King Sturge in Leeds have released some new apartments on the 6th floor of Candle House @ Granary Wharf. We've been following this new building closely, check out our pictures here. Also watch this space for exclusive photographs from the private rooftop terrace!
2-bed @ £950 Click here
1-bed @ £600 Click here
Studio @ £450 Click here




Beetham Penthouse
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
It's Valentines Day and NOBODY from the Luvthecity team has received a card (sniff, sniff) - but we'd happily overlook the lack of cards if we had won last night's Euro Lottery and could afford this - it's one of the best penthouses in Liverpool. Three terraces, top-quality fittings and views to die for... Click here



Secret Project Weekend
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Here at Luvthecity Towers we're cancelling the weekend because we're working on a secret project that will transform Luvthecity!!! We'd love to spill the beans, but instead we're going to burn the midnight oil and make sure the project is right before we bang on about it! And how are we keeping ourselves sustained into the night? With 4 takeaways from our local Chinese... it IS Chinese New Year this weekend after all (any excuse, eh???!!!!)



BBC Loves Pies
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
The BBC is to pave the way for its move to the north of England next year with a season of programmes celebrating pies, grand civic architecture and the rugby league commentator Eddie Waring
Full Story Click here



Room At The Top...
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Penthouses are pretty rare to the market, especially in niche developments, so it's great to find these three penthouses in Portland Place, Abito & The Wentwood. The Abito Penthouses are particularly rare, there are only a few in this new dockside development in Salford Quays. The views are great and the terraces are HUGE!!! Read our exclusive review of Abito Clippers Quay here

Leeds @ Portland Place Click here
Manchester @ Abito Click here
Manchester @ The Wentwood Click here




Citispace Join Luvthecity
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
A big welcome to Isobel and the team at Citispace, they're the 10th estate agent in Leeds to join us since our launch on January 4th. Citispace have a number of 1-bed and 2-bed apartments to rent in their unique development on Regent Street. To read our full review of the building Click here

1-bed @ £370 Click here
1-bed @ £500 Click here
2-bed @ £585 Click here



Manchester Evening News Sold for £44m
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
The Guardian severed its historic newspaper link to Manchester today with the sale of its regional media business to Trinity Mirror. The deal is worth £44.8m to Guardian Media Group, with £7.4m in cash and Trinity Mirror releasing GMG from a £37.4m print contract.
Full Story Click here



New Tower For Manchester
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Manchester's love of tall steel towers continues with this proposed 36-storey residential block next to Oxford Road Station. Located on the corner of New Wakefield Street and Great Marlborough Street, this slender block will loom above the station platforms with fantastic views across central Manchester. But if you're thinking of buying or renting one, you're out of luck... it's a student block!
Full Story Click here



CABE criticies Leeds Arena Plans
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
The government’s design watchdog has hit out at initial proposals by Jacobs and Populous for Leeds' new city centre arena. CABE’s design review panel said its was concerned about the lack of architectural thinking, in particular regarding the appearance of the 12,500-seat fan-shaped venue in Claypit Lane...
Full Story Click here



Beetham Tower To Lose Hum
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
If you've walked past Manchester's Beetham Tower over the past week you'd have noticed the building's infamous fin has been covered in a large piece of green plastic. What's it for you ask? Well after 2 years of transmitting its high-pitched hum across the city centre, Ian Simpson's landmark 47-storey tower is finally going to be silenced...
Full Story Click here



Save the Moberley One!!!
Monday, February 1st, 2010
One of Manchester's 1960's modernist icons is at risk. The future of Hubert Dalwood's gorgeous frieze on the side of the University's Moberley Tower is now under question since the building's demolition programme is now well under way. Maureen and the team at the Manchester Modernist Society are championing its cause and we're crossing our fingers for the intervention of the 20th Century Society and the Whitworth Art Gallery. If you'd like to see the frieze kept in Manchester, or have any suggestions about a new home for this masterpiece, get in touch with the Manchester Modernist Society by emailing them here
Moberley Tower Click here
Hubert Dalwood Profile Click here
The Frieze in detail Click here
http://www.manchestermodernistsociety.org/


Hello to Nest!
Monday, February 1st, 2010
We're delighted to welcome on board James and the team at Nest in Leeds, they're the 7th agent to come on board since our launch four weeks ago!
Whitehall Waterfront @ £850 Click here
La Salle @ £600 Click here
Sparrow's Wharf @ £625 Click here
http://www.nest-uk.com/


Congratulations James!!
8.45am - Friday, January 29th, 2010
Congratulations to James Gilhooly who has won our fantastic prize of a year's free living in one of Manchester's coolest apartments! James, an English teacher from Manchester won the apartment live on Galaxy Manchester this morning - and to say he was shocked would be an understatement!!!
http://www.luvthecity.com/pintoyourpad.aspx


Urban Climbers at Media City
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Those urban climbers are back to their old tricks again! In December we reported on their brave ascent of the Beetham Tower and now they've climed the new tower at Media City...
Click here



Newsnight on Chimney Pot Park
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Newsnight returns to Salford after 12 years to report on whether the government has delivered on their promise to regenerate inner-city areas. But who did well out of it, and who didn't?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/newsnight


FSA proposes new rules on mortgage lending
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
New rules to protect mortgage holders who are in arrears have been proposed by the Financial Services Authority. The FSA says it wants to ensure that those borrowers are treated fairly, especially ones who have borrowed from specialist lenders...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8480073.stm


Squashed Tomatoes in Stew
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us, Happy.... oh, you know the rest. Anyway, Luvthecity is 4 months old today (well, OK, last Friday) and we're delighted to announce that we've reached our magic goal of 100,000 page views! Nearly 1,000 people in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool check us out every day and between them they see over 2,500 pages. Phew, that's enough maths for the day, we need a lie down...




Hello to Charles James Property!
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
We're delighted to welcome on board Jonathan and the team at Charles James Property in Manchester, they're the 26th agent to come on board since our launch! They have some lovely apartments to rent, from large lofts in Canal Street to high-quality apartments on the higher floors at The Edge...
Gorgeous river views at Leftbank @ £1400 Click here
Huge loft apartment on Canal Street @ £1100 Click here
Large 3-storey house on Peregrine Street @ £850 Click here



Data Data Everywhere...
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
We've been waiting to see how good the government's new data site is and after today's launch we're not entirely convinced. We're all up for a little bit of transparency - but like most local government sites this one is pretty corporate and confusing. We tried to search for house price data but we just got the boring old 404 message. Hmmmmm. Let's give it a couple of days, but in the meantime we'll stick to houseprices.co.uk
http://www.data.gov.uk/data


New Apartments at Islington Wharf
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
If you've heard our adverts on Galaxy FM, you'll know all about Islington Wharf. We've taken a quick look around again and chosen the best 3 apartments for sale. There's a great 2-bed unit on the roadside block, a superb 2-bed duplex and a huge 3-bed duplex with one of the best terraces we're seen...
3-bed Duplex @ £299,000 Click here
2-bed Duplex @ £265,000 Click here
2-bed with Dining Room @ £265,000 Click here




Hello to Hudson Moody!
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
We're delighted to welcome on board the team at Hudson Moody in Leeds, they're the 7th agent to come on board since our launch last week...



Win this luxury city centre apartment for 2010!
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Luvthecity is giving away a luxury city centre apartment for a WHOLE YEAR... what a way to start 2010! We've teamed up with Galaxy Manchester, Islington Wharf and the Triangle Shopping Centre to give away this FANTASTIC prize...



See the winning apartment Click here
Full details Click here
Read more about Islington Wharf Click here






Bluerow Lettings
Friday, January 15th, 2010
We're delighted to welcome on board the team at Bluerow Lettings in Liverpool, they're our 6th agent to come on board since our launch last week...



Click The Red Arrows!
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
We'd like to thank CM from Manchester who wrote to us asking how he could find the most up-to-date properties on Luvthecity. The best way to find the newest properties is to use the handy Red Arrow on the right-hand side of the results page. If you press this once it reorders the adverts by date and puts the freshest ones to the top. And we like it fresh!...





Corrie to be demolished
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Britain's most famous street is set to be demolished. Coronation Street's iconic outdoor set, including the Rovers Return pub, could be shut down and be rebuilt just a stone's throw from Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium after ITV reopened talks to relocate its Manchester offices...
http://tinyurl.com/yh9rth2


Come and see our competition show apartment!
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
After a few snowy days here in Manchester, Luvthecity's Show Apartment at the Triangle has re-opened! Come down to Exchange Square between 12pm-2pm & 4pm-6pm where the Galaxy Ground Crew will give you a pin number for you chance to win our luxury apartment for 2010!
See the show apartment Click here
Enter the competition Click here



Snowy Spotify
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
BBrrrrrrrr... it's FREEZING! Luvthecity is officially working from home today (like we have a choice) - so here's a wee present for everyone stuck at home across the snowy north... enjoy!!!
http://sharemyplaylists.com/luvthecitys-snowy-north/


Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester 'affordable'
Saturday, January 3rd, 2010
Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester are three of the newly-afforable areas for first-time buyers, says the Halifax Bank. In 2007 first-time buyers on average wages could only afford property in 6% of Britain, but after a long period in house-price decline, 39% of Britain is now affordable...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8438179.stm


Happy New Year Etc...
Friday, 1st January, 2010
Happy New Year from everyone at Luvthecity! We decided it would be a bit of a cliche to post the usual 'Happy New Year' videos by Abba, etc. so we've gone with a leftfield choice, but it always makes us smile and cross our fingers for good times ahead. It's the wonderful Camera Obscura's 'Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken'. Here's to a great 2010...





Oranges are not the only fruit
Tuesday December 29 2009
Welcome back everyone - did you all have a good Christmas break? Our highlight of the festive season was a return to form for The Royle Family - we're getting fit for the New Year by copying Cheryl's new diet:

"I'm on a Fruit-only Detox diet, I've had 3 bananas for me breakfast, a tin of fruit salad for me dinner, 2 Terry's chocolate oranges for tea and a Cherry Bakewell for afters"






House price increase 'slows down' in December
Monday December 28 2009
Growth in house prices in England and Wales slowed in December, according to property website Hometrack. It said the average cost of a home rose by just 0.1% to £156,900, as the number of house-hunters fell by 2.2%...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8432089.stm


Happy Christmas all you Sprout Dodgers
Friday December 25 2009
If you're reading this on Christmas Day (why???!!) then we'd like to wish you Happy Christmas with the lovely Ms MacColl singing Fairytale of New York...



RIP Kirsty
http://www.justiceforkirsty.org/


Ice Ice Baby
Wednesday December 23 2009
Manchester is looking LOVELY under all that snow (unless you're stuck in it of course!) - here are a few photos from the Hilton Hotel this morning - Castlefield is looking wonderful and we swear the Bridgewater Canal has frozen over...







Luvthecity's Early Christmas Pressie to Ourselves
Monday December 21 2009



So we've finally given in. After 6-months listening to Spotify we've upgraded to Premium. It all started so well - the occasional advert for new music, the cheerful hello from Ziafromspotify - but slowly Spotify have cranked up the number of adverts and the ratio of annoying American accents to lovely British ones. So last night we finally snapped and clicked the Premium button. Here are our Top 3 Annoying Spotify Adverts:

1. The Cheesy American Guy "If yur don't hav yur in'erne' connection or yur a' the summeeeeurhouse"
2. Alica Keys "Hey check out my nuu album, y'all gunna love it"
3. Ben From Spotify "Hiiii! We don't know why people choose their music, but as long as they do..."

So now Luvthecity's office is a wonderful ad-free place full of lovely music (and no, we haven't clicked on The Climb by Joe McElderry. We don't like Rage Against The Machine, we're just sulking over Olly)
http://www.spotify.com/en/


Is the MEN up for sale???
Midday Thursday 17th December 2009
Interesting story breaking on Media Guardian... is the Manchester Evening News REALLY up for sale?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/dec/17/manchester-evening-news


Police on Twitter (not Sting, the other ones)
Thursday December 17 2009
Just when you thought that Twitter was only used for telling people in less than 140 characters what flavour crisps you're munching - then you'd be wrong. Greater Manchester Police have now launched a Twitter service, cheerfully keeping you up to date with muggings and beatings on the city streets. It makes for pretty grim reading, so unless you're made from a steely disposition we recommend you stick to our lovely property updates instead! But if you're feeling brave (or paranoid) check out GMP's Twitter account here...
http://twitter.com/gmpolice


What's your favourite apartment block in Britain?
Wednesday December 16 2009
We've teamed up with Newsontheblock.com to create a series of articles on Britain's landmark apartment blocks. For the next article we're looking for suggestions in Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham, so please send your nominations to us here . Read the latest article online:
http://tinyurl.com/ygyvzon


City Streets - How Safe Are They?
Tuesday December 15 2009
We've found a really interesting article on the BBC website today concerning road safety in British cities. The Department of Transport has released details of every casualty in the last 10 years so you can check out how safe your street is.



Check out your street here...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8401344.stm


New Developments in Manchester
Monday 14th December 2009
We've added a new link to our results pages ... now you can check out all the new developments in Manchester (and maybe buy one for investment, if say you've just won a £1million record contract. Hint Hint, Joe)
http://www.luvthecity.com/manchesternew.aspx


Free Postcodes For All!
Thursday 10th December 2009
Ha! At last! The Royal Mail is finally giving free access to their postcode data. This will help estate agents get addresses right and will help us get the correct listings for new blocks such as Echo Central in Leeds. House Prices think its in one place, Google in another... ooh what a palava. Thank heaven for the Post Office then (and who thought we'd say that at Christmas?!)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8402327.stm


Reeds Rains Leeds join Luvthecity
Wednesday 9th December 2009
Hello to Chris and the team at Reeds Rains Leeds - they're the latest agent to come on board Luvthecity as we head towards our Leeds and Liverpool launch on January 4th! They have offices right in the centre if town (and around the corner from Deli59 who do a very nice Chilli Baked Potato!)

http://www.reedsrains.co.uk/leeds


Belvoir! Central Liverpool Join Luvthecity!
Tuesday 8th December 2009
It's a big welcome to Nicola and the team at Belvoir! Central Liverpool - they're our 5th agent in town. Their offices are located in Cheapside in one of our favourite developments in Liverpool, the wonderfully contemporary Cable House (check out the huge decked terraces on the top floor apartments, they have amazing views across the city)



To see properties from Belvoir! Central Liverpool, click here
http://www.belvoirlettings.com/Liverpool%20Central

Luvthecity Launches in Liverpool and Leeds!!!
Monday December 7th 2009
IT'S OFFICIAL - Luvthecity is launching in Liverpool and Leeds on Monday 4th January 2010!!!
After our runaway success in Manchester we're excited to announce that Luvthecity is getting jiggy with the M62 - we're 'Going West' to Liverpool and crossing the Pennines to Leeds!

Read about our expansion here

See who's signed up so far here

Read an exclusive interview with our Director here

Luvthecity comes to Liverpool click here



Luvthecity comes to Leeds click here







New Plans For Piccadilly Station
Monday December 7th 2009





The large piece of land behind Piccadilly Station is finally going to be used for something! Architects Bennetts Associates have released details for a huge commercial project on the site of the old Mayfield Station. More details here...
http://www.bennettsassociates.com/


Frog88 Join Luvthecity
5pm Friday December 4th 2009
A big welcome to Sean and the team at Frog88 - they've become the newest agent to sign-up for our launch in Leeds on January 4th. Just 4 weeks to go (gulp!)...
http://www.frog88.com/


Thumbs Up!
5pm Thursday December 3rd 2009
A few people have mentioned that our preview thumbnails are a bit too small and they have to squint to look at them (get you, Grandad!)... so to prove we're not on commission from Specsavers, we've made them three times larger! (Thanks to our Thumbnail Research Team; Bill, Simon, Imogen, Clare & Ross!)





Reeds Rains Manchester Join Luvthecity
Thursday 3rd December 2009
We're delighted to welcome on board the team from Reeds Rains Manchester - located on Whitworth Street West, they're our 23rd agent in the city and have a large selection of apartments for sale and rent. Check them out here...
http://www.reedsrains.co.uk/manchester


Ancoats' £400m Regeneration - Developers Needed
Thursday 3rd December 2009
A new drive to attract developers into Ancoats has been initiated by the North West Development Agency. Opportunities will be explored to rent or sell existing buildings and to redevelop cleared sites which are not already linked to a developer. Lambert Smith Hampton will work with the NWDA and urban regeneration company New East Manchester to market the vacant land and property which, including projects already in the pipeline, are worth over £8 million. All redevelopments will be high quality in line with the vision for the £400million regeneration of Ancoats.
http://tinyurl.com/ykuamw9


RIP Blanche
4.30pm Wednesday 2nd December 2009
We're all very upset to hear the sad news of actress Maggie Jones' death today at the far-too-young age of just 75. RIP Blanche...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8391523.stm


Full House!
Tuesday 1st December 2009
Manchester city centre has thousands of apartments but only a handful of houses...we wish there were more (stairs are good for the thighs and we could do with a bit of help in that department now Christmas is approaching!). But all is not lost, there are a couple of new houses on the market today, a cute mews conversion in Castlefield and a contemporary new-build on Ashton Old Road...



Castlefield Mews House click here
Ashton Old Road new-build click here



Taste of Honey
Monday 30th November 2009
We're all off to see 'A Taste of Honey' tonight - if you want to see what Manchester looked like 40 years ago then come along (and extra bonus points for spotting Hazel Blears)

Date: Monday, November 30, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Manchester Lecture Theatre, All Saints Building, MMU, Oxford Road, Manchester
http://www.traumafilm.com/current.htm

Flint Glass Wharf
Saturday 28th November 2009
Following on from yesterday's news about the HCA's extra funding for residential development in Ancoats, a whole group of apartments have become available for rent at Flint Glass Wharf. This contemporary canal-side development has some of the nicest new-build apartments we've seen...



Read our review here
Penthouse For Rent From Philip James here
Architect's original designs here
Skyscrapercity here



Beetham Architect to Redesign Town Hall
Friday 27th November 2009
Interesting story from the Architects' Journal - Beetham Tower designer Ian Simpson has won the bid to refurbish Manchester's Grade II*-listed town hall extension...
Read the full story here



More Cash Injections For Manchester Developments
Friday 27th November 2009
Following on from October's cash injection from the Homes and Communities Agency's Kickstart Fund - even more money is now being plowed into East Manchester. Today the HCA announced it would be pumping over £1million into the City East development on the Ashton Old Road.
Download the complete funding list here
See Luvthecity's review of City East here
Read the full story here



Buy A Cheeky Monkey In Aid of Alder Hey...
Tuesday 24th November 2009
We're in Liverpool this week having a quick nose around the city before we launch in January and we're delighted to be involved with the guys from Mankey Monkey. If you buy one of their cute monkeys for £50 the team will decorate the animal for you, put it on display at their HQ in Liverpool One and then auction it - all in aid of the wonderful Alder Hey Children's Foundation Hospital.
Buy a Monkey here
Follow them on Twitter here



It's 18 floors tall and it's coming to Deansgate!
Monday 20th November 2009



It's 18 floors tall and it's coming to Deansgate! We've been watching this site for a while now and after a long period of nothingness, finally there's some action! Last week a large LCD screen appeared on site showing a looped film advertising the tower... this must mean it's finally on its way! For a run-of-the-mill office block we think it's pretty impressive and should complete this part of Deansgate Locks. And for people with short memories, here is what the area looked like before the bars moved in...



Read more about the Axis Tower here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_Tower

Vicus
Thursday 19th November 2009
It's pretty rare to find an apartment in the Vicus building, so it's great to see one of the first-floor units up for sale. It reminds us of how well this building is designed; the courtyard with its full-height atrium; the beautiful stone sculptures; the central location... all are wonderful. But it's the clever little design tricks that really make this building stand out...





Click here to see today's apartment
http://www.luvthecity.com/92ee9ce83517495f83054b2ee2f2073a.aspx


Lenders Cautious Over Apartments
Thursday 19th November 2009
Mortgage lenders are imposing stricter terms on homebuyers when they buy apartments rather then houses. Banks are cautious of exposing themselves to apartments because such properties have endured falls in value in the last two years due to the demise of buy-to-let – especially in northern cities
http://tinyurl.com/yfcgup9


Low Rates Here To Stay?
Wednesday 18th November 2009
The latest monthly mortgage index from mortgage broker, John Charcol, shows the proportion of homeowners borrowing at fixed-rates falling in October, to 26.3%. This compares with a peak of 83.1% in June and confirms that borrowers have been convinced that low interest rates are here to stay...
http://tinyurl.com/yat3cps


Timmmmber!!!!!!!
Tuesday 18th November 2009



Here at Luvthecity we've been always been fans of Urban Splash's work, but we're particularly nerdy about Timber Wharf! We know all the layouts back-to-front and we can tell you at the drop of a hat what is the best floor to live on and why. It's all about the neighbouring buildings and how they impact on the minimalist masterpiece. Timber Wharf is so well-designed that we'd recommend any of the units, but there are a couple that stand out - the 2-bed corner units are wonderful and the duplex penthouses have some of the biggest terraces we've ever seen. When the building was first marketed the canal-side units were the most sought-after, but since the arrival of the imposing St.George's Island we think the apartments on Worsley Street are the ones to go for - they've got great views of the timber-clad Burton Place and they're the same price as some of Manchester's more bog-standard blocks. Here are a couple of the best layouts, a 2-bed unit and a duplex penthouse...

2-BED APARTMENT


PENTHOUSE


One of the rarely-available 2-bed units at Timber Wharf has just become available for rent. Located on the 6th floor it has views of the Manchester skyline across the roof of the neighbouring Box Works. Check it out here 2-BED CORNER UNIT @ £850PCM







Read more about Timber Wharf at the CABE website:
http://www.cabe.org.uk/case-studies/timber-wharf


Identify The Mystery Building!!!
Monday 17th November 2009
Our photographers have been out and about this week making the most of the sunny (ahem) weather in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester. We've been re-photographing buildings in Ancoats and came across this one - it's located on the corner of Laystall and Great Ancoats Street (opposite the old ILVA building which is currently being converted into Aldi - spend a little, live a lot!) but we have NO IDEA who it's built by, what it's called or who's selling it. At the moment it seems to be laying empty with no sign of life... does anybody know? Email us here






http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=589050


Salford Film Festival
Monday 16th November 2009
There's just four days left before the fantastic Salford Film Festival comes back to town. The SFF is now in its 6th year and showcases innovate works from local film-makers. Most of the works are shot in and around Salford and the luvthecity team went last year and saw a fantastic film about a young couple discovering a portal to another world in the living room wall of a council flat in Langworthy (haven't we all!). This year we're looking forward to these three films...


1. Flatshare


2. Car Park


3. Wigan Casino

For the full film listings go to:
http://www.salfordfilmfestival.org.uk/index.asp


To Blackley or not to Blackley?
Friday 13th November 2009
One of Luvthecity's loyal users (you know who you are!) is moving out of the city centre to Lakeside Rise in Blackley. This puts us in a bit of a quanadry - do we list this development even though it's not in the city centre? Our remit is to advertise just city centre apartments, but occassionally it's more about city-centre style than actual location. After all we list properties in Urban Splash's 3 Towers development in Collyhurst, so why not Blackley?



Here are a few examples...

3 Bedrooms @ £125,000

2 Bedrooms @ £119,950

2 Bedrooms @ £95,000

So, do these qualify for 'city-centre living'? Answers on a postcard please. Well, not a postcard obviously, but an email will do admin@luvthecity.com



Ice Ice Baby
Thursday 12th November 2009
IT'S BACK!!! The ice rink at Spinningfields opens tonight, so if you can't face listening to Alexandra Burke murder Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah in Albert Square you can always head down for some icy fun!
http://www.spinningfieldsicerink.com/siteNorm/index.php


Mortgage lending to first-time buyers rises 45%
Wednesday 11th November 2009
First-time buyers benefit from lower house prices and a temporary increase in the stamp duty threshold. Read the full story here


Rule Britannia
Wednesday 11th November 2009
Here at Luvthecity we love Twittering our favourite apartments every day and if you're following us (and 720 of you are!) - you'll have seen this lovely apartment last week. Britannia Mills is one of Manchester's original conversions and Vital Space have a fab 1-bed courtyard facing apartment for rent: Britannia Mills @ £575



See our daily updates here Luvthecity @ Twitter



Prices Rise, Supply Increases
Tuesday 10th November 2009
House prices continue to rise despite an increase in the number of new instructions received by agents says RICS latest UK housing market survey. The survey contains evidence that vendors are beginning to return to the market with 15% percent of surveyors reported that new instructions had increased in October...
Download the RIC official report HERE
http://tinyurl.com/y9hcn2k


Happy 21st!!!
Monday 9th November 2009
It's a big welcome to James and the team at Manchester Property Group - they're the 21st Manchester agent to sign-up with luvthecity!
See the rest of our agents HERE
http://www.manchesterpropertygroup.co.uk/

New Landmark Hotel for Deansgate
Friday 6th November 2009
Deansgate Locks will be transformed by the arrival of a new landmark hotel - this 18-storey glass tower will be home to a new Pillo Hotel in 2011. Apart from the Beetham Tower, this corner of Deansgate is one of the few remaining areas of Manchester not overshadowed by large contemporary buildings, so the demolition of the old warehouse at No.s 10-12 Whitworth Street will really change the area's character. Having said that, we quite like it (although we may be in the minority!)



Download the offical Planning Approval PDF HERE
http://pillohotels.com/site/pillo_developments.html


Manchester Streets And Manchester Men
Thursday 5th November 2009
You can say what you like about the new trend for digital book readers (euughh we say!) - but you can't fault Google's brilliant idea of scanning old New York Library books and posting them on the web. We've spent a few hours (**NERD ALART**) looking through the 1908 book by Thomas Swindells entitled 'Manchester Streets and Manchester Men' (it's not as exciting as it sounds!)





Have a look at Google's online version here...
http://www.archive.org/stream/manchesterstree01swingoog


Manchester Theatres Sold
Wednesday 4th November 2009
Manchester's Opera House and Palace Theatre will have new owners when the Ambassador Theatre Group completes its £92m acquisition of Live Nation's UK venues. The deal will make ATG Britain's largest theatre operator, with 37 venues altogether, including 11,000 seats in the West End and nearly 38,000 seats outside London...
http://tinyurl.com/ybz3bwo


Granada in Pictures
Wednesday 4th November 2009
Urbis is holding an exhibition about the history of TV in Manchester. Manchester, Television & the City looks back at the history of Granada TV with some great images from the last 50 years. Here's a quick preview from The Guardian today
> GRANADA IN PICTURES








Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Tuesday 3rd November 2009
Winter has well and truly arrived in Manchester - and today's storms have been amazing! Here's a picture we took this afternoon of a rainbow leading to the Palace Theatre...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/luvthecity/4072592784/


Media City gives £92m of work to local businesses
Tuesday 3rd November 2009
Place North West reports today that Salford City Council has given £92m of construction work at Media City UK to local contractors - this is an increase of almost one third in the last six months alone and makes up around 40% of the £228m of contracts at the site given to local businesses...
http://tinyurl.com/yzz7d7k


2009 Firework Displays in Manchester
Monday 2nd November 2009
OK, OK, so there aren't any displays in the city centre but as long as you don't mind a quick hike up to Crumpsall or over to Beswick you'll still be able to scoff a hot-dog and hear those 'ooooohs' and those 'aaaaaahs'...
http://tinyurl.com/y9hpkaz


Deansgate REALLY needs one of these...
Monday 2nd November 2009
London's Oxford Circus has just revealed a new crossing based on the Japanese style of traffic management...how good is that??!!! We think it would work brilliantly in Manchester, especially on the corner of Deansgate and John Dalton Street where we seem to spend half our lives...

BEFORE


AFTER


NEWS STORY

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8337341.stm


Ancoats gets huge cash injection
Friday 30th October 2009
The Homes and Communities Agency today confirmed that it has approved 91 residential schemes for kickstart funding, including two in Ancoats, central Manchester. The Ice Plant will receive £1.76million for their 82 apartments and Artisan will receive £4.93m for their 108 apartments at Advent Phase 5...
Download the Official List > HERE **



Read the full story >
http://tinyurl.com/yht4ypn


House prices rise - but for how long?
Friday 30th October 2009
House prices rose for a sixth consecutive month in October but the strong upward momentum in property values seen over the summer is showing some signs of moderating...

** Download the official Nationwide Report HERE **


Manchester's New Civic Quarter
Thursday 29th October 2009
Manchester City Council have outlined their plans for the new Civic Quarter and we've noticed that this includes three glass office blocks adjacent to the Beetham Tower - but isn't that the site for the Bauer Millett garage? Where are the Manchester United team going to buy their blingy Hummers now???!!!!



Read more about the Civic Quarter here
CIVIC QUARTER PDF


Lovely Listings
Wednesday 28th October 2009
Here at Luvthecity.com we pride ourselves on how good our photographs are (OK so they're a bit architectural and nerdy but that's OCD for you!) - so you can imagine how much we laughed when Agents.com sent us this link to Lovely Listings. It's a hilarious website that displays weird and wonderful estate agent photographs - just LOOK at this gorgeous living room...



http://lovelylisting.com/

Goodbye Old Salford
Tuesday 27th October 2009
We've taken a quick trip to the edge of the city centre to see the very sad demolition of six Victorian terraced streets. Wiltshire, King, Cardiff, Vincent and Hampshire Street are all being destroyed to make way for the re-development of New Broughton. Salford has some superb pieces of modern architecture but unfortunately you won't see any of them here - all that is planned is different terraced houses rather than an alternative way of living. So what's the point? If Urban Splash can renovate the Victorian streets at Langworthy Park, why can't the same be done here? Instead we get a bizarre mix of architecture references from black weatherboarded Kent Oasthouses to whitewashed Cornish cottages - it says NOTHING about Salford's architectural heritage. If they're going to do away with Victorian houses at least put something worthwhile in their place...

OLD...


NEW...


HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE...


More Pictures...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luvthecity/sets/72157622532648779/


Good luck Mozza
Monday 26th October 2009
Good news about our hero Morrissey - he's home from hospital after collapsing on stage with breathing difficulties on Saturday. Now that he's safe and recovering we can make a joke about how Swindon is THE perfect place for a singer to meet his demise... it's an early Smiths lyric just waiting to be written!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8324925.stm


Here Comes The Neighbourhood
Friday 23rd October 2009
Congratulations to Lost in Manchester who won Best City & Neighbourhood Blog AND Blog of the Year at the Manchester Blogging awards last night. We're big fans of their blog, so check them out here:
http://doorsintothepast.blogspot.com/


Polish Builders
Friday 23rd October 2009
After an uncomfortable hour watching that odious little twerp on Question Time last night we were delighted to find that 'Find A Polish Builder' have added us on Twitter! Nick Griffin would hate this kind of site which makes us love them even more! Check them out at:
http://www.findpolishbuilder.com/index.php


Manchester to out-perform other regional cities
Thursday 22nd October 2009
Manchester as a city will perform better than other regional cities due to the 'joined up thinking' of its leaders, says the panel at Property Week's 2009 Conference...
http://tinyurl.com/yh9ytxv

The Sounds of Manchester
Wednesday 21st October 2009

BBC Manchester has come up with 12 sounds of the city; a range of after-dark activities that show Manchester at its finest. We can understand the Opus nightclub and the traders at Smithfield market, but WHO goes to the gym at 6am? Only mad people we can assume. Click on this hour-by-hour guide to hear our selection of the sounds of 24-hour Manchester...
http://tinyurl.com/yal6rq5

Foot in mouth Boris
Tuesday 20th October 2009
A big thanks to Leanne Franks who sent us this great clipping from last week's Sunday Times. Maybe we should ask Boris to be mayor of Manchester??!!!







FSA unveils tougher mortgage rules
Monday 19th October 2009
The City watchdog has announced proposals to ban self-certification mortgages and impose affordability tests on all home loans. The Financial Services Authority is also calling for a ban on mortgages containing "toxic combinations" which put borrowers at a higher risk, such as lending a high proportion of a property's value to people with impaired credit histories...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/8761624

TOP 10!!!
Friday 15th October 2009
To celebrate our 4th week in business we've chosen our Top 10 favourite pubs, bars, chippies and caffs in Manchester. Drinking beer, eating chips and scoffing bacon sarnies isn't the hardest piece of research we've ever done, but we hope we've made the right choices...



TOP 10 BARS >
TOP 10 PUBS >
TOP 10 CHIPPIES >
TOP 10 CAFFS >


Huge Fire in Manchester City Centre
7.23pm, Thursday 15th October 2009
We've just spotted a huge fire in Manchester city centre...





Video & Pictures by Luvthecity.com


Social (Media) Climbers...
Thursday, 15th October 2009
Like any new company worth their salt, Luvthecity makes sure we Twitter all the time (we post our favourite new properties everyday, check below for details). But we were amazed today when Gary Hayes launched his real-time update of new Social Media users. Check this out...



LUVTHECITY'S FAVOURITE NEW PROPERTIES ON TWITTER >




MediaCityUK
Wednesday, 14th October 2009
Today is the day when Peel Holdings officially hand over the MediaCityUK keys to the BBC so they begin fitting out the buildings. BBC Manchester has some exclusive photographs from inside the Salford Quays development...
MEDIA CITY SLIDESHOW >






Droylsden
11am Monday, 12th October 2009
We've had a few e-mails asking about apartment blocks on the outskirts of Manchester city centre, in particular 3 Towers in Collyhurst and the Marina development in Droylsden. We already cover 3 Towers (being Urban Splash fans!) but we don't cover Droylsden yet, so we're sending the guys out to have a quick look today. The Metrolink is on its way and the proposals seem to fit in with what we do but in the meantime have a quick look at this, it's the Droylsden Webcam and it looks worryingly quiet out there (despite the traffic jam!)...
http://www.tameside.gov.uk/webcams/droylsden-camera


We Let Properties (we don't but they do!!!!)
Friday, 9th October 2009
We're delighted to welcome on board Wayne and the team at We Let Properties. They're the 13th Manchester agent to join Luvthecity and like many of our partners, We Let Properties are a young and enthusiastic company with a great attitude to letting (and they have great offices in the leafy St. John's Street, one of the few remaining Georgian terraces in Manchester). We Let Properties have just taken on a fabulous garden apartment in Castlefield. In a city full of high-rise units, it's refreshing to see something on ground level with views across the garden... good if you've got a cat or vertigo. Or both...

GARDEN APARTMENT IN CASTLEFIELD

http://www.weletproperties.co.uk/

Hulme in the 1970s
Thursday, 8th October 2009
Our photographers are in Hulme today shooting (ahem) some more apartment blocks for luvthecity. Maybe because it's a sunny day, but Hulme seems a million miles from the days of the concrete crescent. But we wonder how long the new brick-built terraces will last? There are some great pieces of contemporary architecture in Hulme but when it's bad the whole place can feel worryingly Milton Keynes-esque. Here's a quick look at how it used to look...





Come on Eileen...
Tuesday, 6th October 2009
How miserable is this rain? And just when we thought Manchester was in for a long Indian summer! The luvthecity team need cheering up so we're off out tonight to see Sue Cleaver in JBShorts 2 at Joshua Brooks. She stars in 'Marriages Made In Heaven' about a woman called Victoria who is about to get married for the fourth time even though her three previous husbands have all died in tragic circumstances...
http://www.panda-arts.org.uk/events?id=1234


What makes Britain great...
Monday, 5th October 2009
The sun is out and David Cameron is in town talking about cutting benefits... what IS happening to Manchester??!!! If you don't recognise the place here's a bit of Paul Heaton doing what he does best...





Virtual Insanity...
3.45pm Friday, 2nd October 2009
Perfect things to do on a rainy Friday afternoon No. 485: Buy a virtual house in the centre of Manchester and Forever Manchester will donate the money to their local grass roots charity...




http://forevermanchester.com/


Manchester's Most Expensive Apartment...
9am Friday, 2nd October 2009
It's 15 floors up, it's got the biggest windows in town and now it's the most expensive pad in Manchester. At a whopping £4,500 a month, Edenvale-UK have this amazing apartment in Skyline Central. Hmmmm... maybe if we use some of Gloria's money (see below) we could rent this place. Imagine the parties we'd have...
http://www.luvthecity.com/5629043ab37046c0a9ffb2c767ecd012.aspx

Granary Wharf
8pm Thursday 1st October, 2009
We drove over to Leeds tonight to the opening of Waterman's Place at Granary Wharf. It's an interesting site, slap bang in the middle of town with the railway tracks on one side and the Leeds-Liverpool Canal on the other. But despite the built-up location, once you're on site it feels quite open and spacious. There's a new butterfly-shaped bridge connecting it to the main road and the copper-detailing is pretty impressive. The developers layed on plenty of champagne, fire-eaters, people on stilts and a Jazz band, but what impressed us most was the quality of the finish. These people know how to do kitchens and bathrooms - none of that trendy MDF nonsense, just high-quality oak detailing and kitchen cupboards that good 'wwwooooosh'...


http://www.granarywharf.co.uk/


Hold the vinegar
Thursday 1st October, 2009
We're off to Chips in Ancoats to have a quick poke around. We've seen it from the outside and had a look inside when the art gallery was there, but we're interested in having a look at the commercial spaces
LUVTHECITY ON CHIPS

http://images.urbansplash.co.uk/flyers/com/ch/email01/email01.htm


Four figures!!!
3.15pm Wednesday 30th September, 2009
We're having a wee celebration here at Luvthecity towers. After just 7 days we've clocked up 1,000 unique visitors! We'll hold off the Champagne and oysters until we reach 5 figures, but in the meantime we'll take a quick swig of Tizer to wash down our Gingster's sausage roll!





Penny Ashton
Wednesday 30th September, 2009
We're delighted to welcome on board John-Paul, Tom and the team at Penny Ashton. Established in 1985, Penny Ashton has grown from a small agency in Prestwich to one of THE major players in the city centre. Their offices in Parsonage Chambers are across the road from our favourite apartment block (Century Buildings) and round the corner from one of our new 'luvthecity pavement logos' on Blackfriars Road!

http://www.pennyashton.com/


Rising from the flames
Monday 28th September, 2009
It's Monday morning, it's Manchester and it's raining again... ggrrrrr! Still all is sunny here at luvthecity towers because we're delighted to welcome on board Stephen and Kamal from Phoenix Property. They've been letting and managing Manchester city centre apartments for years and they've just listed one of the rare high-level apartments in City Heights - panoramic views for just £525 a month...
http://www.luvthecity.com/810685ff3d504e4bb3b7a436a2cb25b5.aspx


Hello to the Belvoir team!
Friday 25th September, 2009
A big welcome to the team at Belvoir Lettings... they've become the 10th agent to sign-up with Luvthecity! Belvoir have properties in some of the best developments in Manchester and they've just taken on a HUGE 3-double bedroom apartment in the new Flint Glass Wharf development in Ancoats...
http://www.luvthecity.com/44fbfbdcacb44b8d9b07e46d81fe7a38.aspx

Old scrubbers...
Thursday 24th September, 2009
Luvthecity and our lovely marketing team at Ecco-Media are getting ready to clean-up the streets of central Manchester. With our power-washers and our recycled water we're coming to a street near you...





Seven Seconds
Tuesday 22nd September, 2009
We're working on a super-duper speedy 7 second upload! Users will be able to upload their properties in just 7 seconds... count 'em... 7 seconds! This will make us THE fastest ad site in Britain. So while we're working on it enjoy a bit of old skool Neneh Cherry...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yUGDKDOoV0


Edenvale-uk
Tuesday 22nd September, 2009
Our launch day was fantastic (thanks for the Good Luck cards everyone!) - but it was made even better by meeting Simon and Jonathan at Edenvale-uk. They are as passionate about property as we are, so after a cup of tea and a chat about which apartment blocks we like the most, they became the 9th agent to sign-up with Luvthecity. Welcome on board lads!
http://www.edenvale-uk.com/


WE'VE LAUNCHED!!!
Monday 21st September, 2009
Wa-hoo...Luvthecity.com has launched! And we've done it in the lovely sunny(ish!) Manchester. We start our 6-week promo campaign next Monday... so keep an eye out! ;-)
http://www.luvthecity.com/hellomanchester.aspx


Be in our film!
Saturday 19th September, 2009
Morning everyone! The luvthecity team are out and about in Manchester making our promo film today. If you want to tell us what you luvaboutthecity and be in our YouTube Ad Campaign then we'll be in Spinningields & Canal Street this afternoon...!!!
http://twitpic.com/ia4yz


Goodwin Fish
Friday 18th September, 2009
A big welcome to the team at Goodwin Fish & Co - they've become the 8th agent to sign up with Luvthecity! They're marketing a lovely apartment on the 17th floor of The Lighthouse in the Northern Quarter - the views are fab...
http://www.luvthecity.com/17e22fff150340cdbafd860e86eecbf8.aspx


Plymouth Preview
Thursday 17th September, 2009
Great slide show from one of our photographers Jason - it's a preview of all the buildings in Plymouth ready for our launch there at the beginning of 2010 (or maybe it's just an excuse for us to lay on the beach in Devon whilst pretending to do 'research' for luvthecity!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedoboy/sets/72157600795576033/show/


Julie Twist
Wednesday 16th September, 2009
They were the first agent in Manchester city centre and now they've become the 7th agent to sign up with luvthecity! Julie Twist and her team have been serving central Manchester for over 15 years and we're delighted to have them on board. Our director Julian rented his first apartment from Julie in the spring of 1994 "It was on the 3rd floor of Castle Quay in Castlefield, and at the time we were surrounded by burnt-out buildings and dark streets - M15's come a long way since then..."
http://www.julietwist.com/


Apartments of Manchester
Tuesday 15th September, 2009
A big hello and welcome to the 6th agent to sign up with luvthecity! Alison, Oliver and the team at Apartments of Manchester work at the bottom of Brazenoze Street just off Deansgate and their offices are really minimal & swish (which makes a difference from ours which is covered with Boots Meal Deal sandwich boxes and old coffee cups!!!). Anyway, they've got a great apartment for rent in Skyline Chambers (one of our favourite Mancunian blocks) - a nice slice of timber-decked modernism in the heart of the Northern Quarter for just £650pcm Clickity click here>



Goody Bag Day
Monday 14th September, 2009
It's 9.45am and it's Goody Bag Day!!!! The lovely Verena will be distributing choccy-filled goody bags to the estate agents we think will love luvthecity! As more and more agents sign up this is a really exciting time for us ... just 7 days to go!!! So it's a big thanks to the team who put the Goody Bags together, especially Bryan who conceived them, Simon who made them and Verena who gave them away!







Granite Lettings
Monday 14th September, 2009
Welcome to Wesley & Colin from Granite Lettings, the 5th agent to sign-up with Luvthecity. We're launching one week today, so wish us luck!
http://www.granitelettings.com/


Last Day of Summer
Saturday 12th September, 2009
We're all working really hard getting Luvthecity ready for launch and it's 30 degrees outside - definitely the last day of summer! So we've created a cute little sunny playlist to listen to while we're stuck at our desks! (Except for J who's pounding the streets with his Leica!)
http://sharemyplaylists.com/luvthecity-indian-summer/


Tweeters Luv Luvthecity
Tuesday 8th September, 2009
We're pretty amazed by how popular our Tweets are - nearly 500 followers and we haven't even launched yet! Supershackle.com does a nice little job of displaying who luvs luvthecity...
http://www.supershackle.com/twittergrid/index.php?who=luvthecity


Hello Philip James!
Tuesday 8th September, 2009
Despite the fact that it's raining and miserable in Manchester, we've had a great day so far. We gave our first media interview at 10.15am (gulp) and then after a (watery!) Latte in Podium with Sally from Philip James, we now have our 3rd agent on board! So it's a big welcome to Sally and the team at 293 Deansgate...

http://www.philipjames.co.uk/


Our first advert!
Friday 3rd September, 2009
Luvthecity has been in testing mode for the last few months and it's full of dummy adverts created by our lovely test team. But today we have our first REAL advert! It's from the guys at Property Goal and it's a large 2-bed warehouse conversion in the Textile Institute...
http://www.luvthecity.com/615d8a5f65b344e3872ff0579032cb54.aspx


Our second signing!!!
Thursday 2nd September, 2009
Congratulations to Jennie and the girls at Manchester City Lettings - they've become the second agent to sign with Luvthecity!
http://www.mancitylettings.co.uk/


Our first signing!!!!
Wednesday 2nd September, 2009
Congratulations to the lads at Property Goal in Manchester! They have become the first agent to sign up with luvthecity.com - and we're still 3 weeks from our official launch!!!
http://www.propertygoal.co.uk/


We're launching in 3 weeks...
Tuesday 1st September, 2009
After 12 months of hard work we're finally ready...Luvthecity is launching on 21st September, 2009!
http://www.luvthecity.com


Hell Is A City
Monday 31st August, 2009
We were in Britons Protection last night and we got talking to a group of old guys who we told about Luvthecity. They laughed and said that Manchester was the perfect place to launch a website with a name like that. Reason? Their favourite film was a 1960s Manchester classic called 'Hell is a City'. So we IMDB'd it and found that not only was it set here, but Joan Crawford came up to Manchester to film it too. Here's a great website about the film with some comparison pictures of Manchester then and Manchester now...
http://www.levyboy.com/hell_is_a_city.htm


Monkey Magic
Sunday 30th August 2009
We headed to the east side of Manchester this afternoon to have a look at Gorton Monastery. It's had a lot of press recently (including a double-page spread in The Guardian) so we thought we'd see what all the fuss was about. The surrounding area is your usual uninspired 1960s post slum-clearance architecture, so this historic building stands out even more than it should. The woman behind it, Elaine Griffiths, showed us round and gave us a talk about the 10-year struggle to regenerate this fantastic building. If there was ever a good example of people not giving up in helping to revive their local area, then this is it. Oh, and the cream cakes are top banana too. If you want to see what it was like before the Lottery funding, have a look at this...


http://www.themonastery.co.uk/


Beetham of The Bang
Friday 28th August 2009
Thanks to Dan who sent us this YouTube video of Manchester's Beetham Tower being destroyed by a huge bomb. Hope it's not a bad omen for Luvthecity!





Download our Spotify Playlist!
Tuesday 25th August 2009
Grrrrrr.... It's 11.15pm, we're stuck in the luvthecity office working late and we've run out of CDs to listen to. So C has suggested that we create a Spotify playlist, so here it is! It's late at night here in central Manchester, so we've gone for some dark and tawdry songs (Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper / Specials - Ghost Town) and put a couple of fun ones in too (for when you're eating a Kebab and driving home in the back of a taxi with the window open (Suede - Beautiful Ones / Rose Royce - Car Wash)
http://sharemyplaylists.com/luvthecity/


Putting on the Ritz
Monday 24th August 2009
Monday afternoon was spend deciding where to place our adverts across Manchester City Centre. There were plenty of 'bulls**t bingo' words banded about like 'footfall' and 'communter recognition' - but in the end it came down to places that had a combination of the following;
1. Dirty Pavements
2. People hanging around
So brothels aside, we've gone for sites underneath railway arches; the Mancunian Way (on Oxford Road) and, most inspired of all, outside The Ritzy on Whitworth Street West. We spent many an hour outside there in the 1990's, drunk, fag and beer in hand, so hopefully we'll get lots of people going 'ggrrller luvthecity - whatsat then???'
http://www.ritznightclub.co.uk/website