I'd like to bring your attention to this article from the Times Online Feb 20th.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article1409272.ece

'From The TimesFebruary 20, 2007

Super-flats for 26m will offer rooms with a view

The new owners of the former Thistle hotel at Lancaster Gate in West London have submitted plans to transform the site into 80 super-apartments overlooking Hyde Park with prices of up to 26 million, The Times has learnt.

City bankers are understood to have made informal approaches to buy several of the smaller flats off-plan for between 3 million and 4 million. That would be record pricing per square foot for Bayswater housing in an area close to Tony Blairs multimillion-pound buy-to-let house.

Minerva, the London-based property developer, bought the site last summer for 67.2 million with planning permission in place to convert the interior of the historic Victorian hotel into 124 apartments and add underground parking.

New plans submitted to Westminster Council include a request to reduce the number of apartments to 80, with the largest on the top floors covering about 8,000sq ft (745sq m), property sources said. The plans include a pool under the private front garden, which spans 120m of Bayswater Road, and grandiose reception rooms with 15ft ceilings.

Minerva teamed up with Northacre, the specialist upmarket flatbuilder, to buy the Lancaster Gate site. Sources said that Minerva had expected a price of 1,200 to 1,300 a square foot when it completed the purchase of the site last July after six months of negotiations. The prices for so-called prime homes in the area have shot up about one third since July, according to independent valuations from the agency Knight Frank, to about 1,500 a square foot.

Minerva and Northacre, which has a 5 per cent equity stake in the venture, expect to hold on to a substantial number of the top-priced flats until the site is finished late in 2009. By then property prices there should have doubled.

One Hyde Park, a Candy & Candy-designed scheme for 86 super-flats on the south side of Hyde Park, has achieved the highest price yet for residential property. Contracts have been exchanged off-plan on a batch priced at 4,200 a square foot, valuing the top four penthouses at 84 million each, The Times reported this month.

Stephan Miles-Brown, the head of residential development at Knight Frank, said of the Lancaster Gate scheme: If the market continues at this rate, then 25 per cent annual compound growth is a distinct possibility and 3,000 per square foot easily achievable. Northacre was doing Candy & Candy design before the Candy brothers entered the scene.

A Minerva spokesman said: We are excited about the scheme . . . but details have yet to be finalised. We are excited about a project which we believe will be a success for the development partners and the community.

Doubling up

Minervas development of the old Thistle Hotel on Lancaster Gate dubbed the Lancasters could land the company and its partner Northacre hundreds of millions of pounds in profits.


- The total cost of the site including debt finance is about 200 million

- New plans envisage up to 200,000 sq ft of residential property which if sold at an average of 2,000 per square foot could mean a site with a built value of about 400 million

- Minerva and partner Northgate are expected to start to presell about half of the flats from this autumn to start to cover their costs

- There is the tricky issue of obtaining revised planning permission. Minerva and Northacre are understood to have lodged a request with Westminster council to pay extra to have the option of building some of the affordable housing segment elsewhere

- Minerva will need to buy a site to build those houses. Westminster could demand a levy to build more affordable homes than the ten extra units set aside for a 125 unit scheme. Minerva would gain from having more high value homes on the old Lancaster Gate site'

Holding up well, probably because if they do drop the offer price many buyers lurking to get in at a lower price IMHO.

Could be worth watching once the SP settles after today's news that no takeover is going to be taking place.

NTA Bid: 67p Offer: 70p Change: -13.5

Northacre PLC - Statement re Possible Offer

RNS Number:7981W
Northacre PLC
17 May 2007


Northacre plc
(the 'Company' or 'Group')


Statement re: Possible Offer

The Company notes the recent press articles regarding the preliminary approach
as announced on 26 February 2007. The Company confirms that, following further
recent movements in its share price, it is no longer in discussions in respect
of an offer for all or part of the Group.

That RNS was only released an hour ago, so there could be more falls on the way.

155K traded so far.

(And boy, am I glad I didn't buy at 80-something when I was tempted to!)

Planning permission secured! Well done Northacre and Minerva.

And a fair recovery in the SP: NTA Bid: 74p Offer: 77p Change: 8

Why did this news come out today when its chairman sold NTA a month ago at 77.5p and now it is only 59p?


Northacre says chairman sells 450,000 shares to cut stake in co to 20.03 pct - AFX


LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK smallcap company Northacre PLC said chairman Klas B Nilsson sold 450,000 shares at 77.5 pence a share on June 18, cutting his stake to 20.03 pct, or 4.55 mln shares.

The company also clarified that prior to the sale chairman Nilsson and chief executive John Hunter each held 22.01 pct stake, or 5 mln shares, and not 5.5 mln -- as stated earlier.

Came back to life with that recent trading statement, partnership with Minerva proceeding well on Lancaster Gate.

Just having a read of their recent trading statement...impressive for such a small cap!

Todays Press:
Times
Rumour of the day: Northacre (talk of
management buyout bid)

anyone know what price range a bid might be?

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Northacre PLC said its chief executive John Hunter sold 350,000 shares at 62 pence per share, cutting his stake to 4.65 mln shares, or 20.47 pct.

Own up - who paid over 20% premium to buy those shares off him?

any chartists care to give their opinion on the trend

L2 looking stronger

With the positive housing data and market response in the US over the break, NTA coupled with the recent bid talk should be very interesting :-)

Away from financials, housebuilders were also rallying following US peers overnight.

Persimmon gained 45.5p at 744p, Taylor Wimpey was up 11.1 pat 174.9p and, in the midcaps, Barratt Developments was 26.5p higher at 405p, Redrow was 21.5p firmer at 291.5p and Bovis Homes ticked up 39.5p to 563p.

re. back4packer - 09 Mar 2007 05:02.

Your header........

"Minerva teamed up with Northacre, the specialist upmarket flatbuilder, to buy the Lancaster Gate site. Sources said that Minerva had expected a price of 1,200 to 1,300 a square foot when it completed the purchase of the site last July after six months of negotiations. The prices for so-called prime homes in the area have shot up about one third since July, according to independent valuations from the agency Knight Frank, to about 1,500 a square foot".
---------------------------------------------



After [and because of] the last two years [and current] global turmoil .....

'The Lancasters' are now selling @ 3,000 / sq. ft..

'The Lancasters' are now 50% pre-sold.

Here's the marketing;-

http://www.thelancastershydepark.com/
http://www.minervaplc.co.uk/developments/?id=2931

And here's the RNS;-

http://www.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=43400266

The shares are on the move up since yesterday, and there is a good change that the high intraday of 46.50p end of February could be broken very soon.

I selected the shares yesterday at 32.50p to go higher this week on the "UPS" thread

There was plenty of live on the shares late on Friday, most likely a follow through tomorrow

link to market plus trades