IT'S a landmark you can't miss - the giant crane towering over the former Volkswagen garage site in Layerthorpe, York.

It's the clearest sign yet that Barratt site manager Rob Scarce and his team have moved in to begin construction work on the £10 million Merchant's Gate project.

Sixty-four luxury apartments will arise on three floors on the site - a third of which, reports Barratt, have already been sold even before a brick has been laid. Completion is expected some time next summer.

Most of the sales have been one-bedroom apartments and already the building company has released a new phase of two-bedroom apartments there, each with private car parking space, at prices ranging from £142,995 to £150,995.

The sales office reports that many are buying as investments.

John Keats, Barratt's sales negotiator, said: "Merchant's Gate will have state-of-the-art architecture and interior design refinements which put these apartments in a class apart.

"It's not just the apartments themselves which are drawing buyers, but also the excellent location, being 15 minutes' walk from the city centre and Heworth village on the doorstep with local amenities.

"Beyond that, about five minutes' drive away is Monks Cross with all its out-of-town shopping facilities."

Updated: 09:27 Tuesday, September 03, 2002