Grand Central, the latest investment opportunity in Manchester has arrived.

Plans for the 231 "superior residences" are being poured over by investors lured in by the chance to be first in line for a new tier of city living ready in 2009. But do the figures stack up as well as the 22 storeys?

In order to reverse of the flow buyers over the past 15 years out to comfortable suburbia, Asquith is delivering Grand Central - a name so imbued with ideology of the American Dream that one expects nothing other than bells and whistles and ticker-tape.

It is an unexpected move from Asquith Properties, the brainchild of Russell Baker and Katherine Stacey, who began more modestly by restoring landmark buildings in Yorkshire. Grand Central is a far cry from its last development, Gatehaus, in Bradford: a modernist, glass-fronted apartment block which has broken the ceiling prices in a city still struggling to enter the 21^st century.

Aspirational Investing?

Like Bradford, perhaps, Asquith is nothing if optimistic. Its apartments don't come cheap. Expectedly, there is much talk of "true designer luxury" with beautiful finishes in the living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms and "stunning views" from the spacious units. This is aspirational living, but is it aspirational investment?

The model is impressive, the location is superb: within arm's reach of Selfridges's food hall and Harvey Nics itself, within the Mackintosh Village - yet another self-styled Quarter of Manchester.

At around £250,000 for a 2-bed apartment (£600,000 for a duplex penthouse) these apartments are pointing high. With temples of aspirational living already on the Manchester street map, (No 1 Deansgate, Spinningfields, The Great Northern Tower) can Manchester sustain another market leader at a time when falling city centre rents are harassing investors?

Grand Central fits in with the current trend for high-end city living. In Bradford, Asquith is at the vanguard of change. But Manchester is already a premier league city with A-list apartments to match. So how can Grand Central be of interest to investors?

2-Year Rental Guarantees

With a rental guarantee. Investors who buy into a ready kitted out apartment will benefit from 6% rental income guarantee over 2 years (based upon the net purchase price). Interior design specialist, Kit it Out, is offering investors a one-bed furnishing pack from £2950, rising to £5,500 for a package that mirrors the glamour of the 40s-themed show home.

With a discounted entry-level price of a tad over £113,000 from Off Plan Investor for a 330 sq ft studio (estimated by local letting agent, Penny Ashton, to attract a £525 pcm) the figures start to look less spacey. (Call Off Plan Investor on 0800 161 3456)

"This is an incentive to be embraced, as tenants in Manchester are spoiled for choice, and a 2-year rental guarantee is a big sweetener" comments Michele Andrew, editor of Sq Ft Property Investor Magazine, who owns property in the city.

"If you buy at prices that are pushing a ceiling, can you be sure that their value will hold in relation to an expanding market? As with any gamble, the higher the risk, the greater the potential reward. I would always take rental valuations with a pinch of salt and deduct 15% before doing my sums," she advises.

"Certainly it's the high-spec, cutting edge apartments which are holding their prices in today's market place," comments Alexis Walters at Off Plan Investor. "Our investors find the staged payments on Grand Central are attractive.  Just 5% is put down at exchange, with a second 5% due in summer of 2009 (6 months before the estimated completion within the first quarter of 2010.) We are offering investors a 5% discount on the developer's prices and take no hidden fees from investors." (View the Price List here.)

In other words, investors benefit from the 2-year build programme followed by a 2-year rental guarantee.  So, as they say in Monaco, "Faites vos jeux!"