Apartments costing a total of £15 millon have been sold in just ten days at a flagship development in Birmingham's Eastside quarter.

Situated on the site of the former Masshouse Circus "concrete collar" ring road, the £350 million mixed-use Masshouse scheme is the largest single investment in Birmingham city centre since Brindleyplace and offers the first chance to buy an apartment at Eastside.

More than half of the 173 apartments in the scheme's first residential building have already been snapped up in what developers described as a "buying frenzy".

Located midway between the Bullring and Millennium Point, within five minutes' walk of Colmore Row, the scheme comprises 1.1 million sq ft of offices, leisure and retail facilities, a vast new law courts complex, two public plazas and 550 apartments.

Phil Marston, residential sales director for Masshouse Developments, the joint venture set up by David McLean, Nikal and Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "We could not be more delighted by the early sales at Masshouse.

"This was a new test for Birmingham's city living market - Eastside is an unproven new quarter with unrealised potential.

" However, close to 90 investors from across the country have signed up for the first residential building here in what can only be described as a buying frenzy."

He added: "Three fundamental attributes appear to be responsible for the popularity of Masshouse's apartments; this is the first chance to invest in residential property at Eastside, on completion the scheme will accommodate 5,000 office workers creating a ready pool of tenants, and prices here are a third less expensive compared to the nearest apartment scheme located only moments away.

"This is a winning formula that immediately stacks up in the eyes of astute investors and signifies the added value created by locating apartments within a truly mixeduse development."

At 14 storeys, the first residential building at the

1.1 million sq ft scheme will become one of Birmingham's tallest residential addresses, offering citywide views. It will be completed in autumn next year, while the total build programme for Masshouse is expected to take seven years.

Prices for apartments in the current release range from £136,995 for a studio. Onebedroom apartments start from £149,995, while twobedroom apartments start from £189,995 and rise to £292,995.

Meanwhile, further plans for the creation of complementary facilities at Eastside are expected to be unveiled early next year. These will include the creation of a new city park, which will run alongside Masshouse through the heart of Eastside.

The creation of the regeneration site was made possible by the demolition of the elevated Masshouse Circus roundabout and the construction of a new tree-lined boulevard leading from central Birmingham into Eastside.

In place of the high level roads and underpasses are new crossings, bus stops, bus lanes and street level junctions.