Avenir Properties: Buyers quick to splash cash on 'fashion' flats

Ben de Lisi
They bought nine in the first two hours, although only the marketing flat and the show flat have actually been built so far.
American-born de Lisi, best known for designing red-carpet gowns for celebrities like Kate Winslet, Liz Hurley and Rachel Weisz, told the Yorkshire Evening Post he found interior design very similar to fashion design.
"If you're looking at a woman's body you decide what to accentuate.
"The same philosophy applies, it's just a different medium you're working with."

As well as providing Ben de Lisi-branded bathrooms, he named the development, individually designed all the kitchens and bedrooms and not only designed the show apartment's garden, he got his hands dirty helping to landscape it and plant it too.
Andrew Carnell, director of Yorkshire developer Avenir Properties, said: "It had been said recently there wasn't a market in Yorkshire for designer apartments.
"We have sold 80 per cent of these flats in the opening weekend – 60 per cent in the first two hours."
The remaining three homes have two bedrooms and the whole development should be completed by August, with residents expected to move in from July.
The scheme, being built by Opel Construction of Harrogate, is the latest in a line of property projects de Lisi has worked on since 2000, many of which are in Manchester.
This is his first Leeds project but he has many friends in Leeds so is a regular visitor to the region.
De Lisi moved to London from America in 1982 and set up a boutique specialising in bridal wear and couture. He also has presented various TV shows, and works with Yorkshire-based Abacus on his bathroom designs.