A high volume of new construction of logoparks is expected along the M-12 Moscow-Kazan highway

St. Petersburg, which has ceased to be a major logistics hub of the country after the introduction of Western sanctions against Russia, may cede this status to the Volga region. After the completion of the construction of the M-12 highway, which should become part of the Europe-Western China transport corridor, up to 1 million square meters will be built along it until 2033. m of warehouse real estate, consultants predict. Through Tatarstan and Nizhny Novgorod, goods from Central and East Asia should go to the center of the country. However, developers do not yet expect stable interest of tenants in logoparks in this area, so they prefer to continue building closer to Moscow.

Along the M-12 Vostok highway, connecting Moscow with Kazan, about 800,000 sq. m. m of warehouse and industrial real estate, predicts the Commonwealth Partnership (CMWP). Ricci is talking about the total area of ​​the declared objects of this format in this location is 800 thousand square meters. m, but, according to analysts, will be built about 700 thousand square meters. m. IBC Real Estate expects 1 million sq. m. m of warehouses along the new logistics route.

According to the Deputy General Director of Ventall-Development, Zakhar Valkov, by 2037, developers intend to build over 2 million square meters near the M-12 highway. m. “But it is hardly worth waiting for such a volume due to instability in the economy,” the expert says.

Considering that the share of free space in the logo parks of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, which are located along the M-12 route, is only 1–2%, according to consultants, these cities may have a dense concentration of new warehouses. According to Egor Dorofeev, head of the warehouse and industrial real estate department at CMWP, the total volume of warehouse space in Tatarstan now does not exceed 802,000 sq.m. m, in the Nizhny Novgorod region – 693 thousand square meters. m.

After the EU imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation a year ago due to the military conflict in Ukraine, St. Petersburg, which was the main logistics hub for importing European goods, lost this status. Now cargo flows have been reoriented to Central and East Asia, so the demand for high-quality warehouses in the Volga region, Siberia and the Urals has increased, says NF Group partner Konstantin Fomichenko. Cargo turnover between Russia and China has already increased significantly, agrees the general director of the transport company Delko Sanjar Ashuraliev. As the M-12 highway is integrated into the Europe-Western China transport corridor, the infrastructure around it will grow, he said.

The main demand for warehouses along the M-12 highway is formed by online retailers and distributors, explains Evgeny Bumagin, head of warehouse facilities and production facilities at IBC Real Estate. Also, he continues, logistics operators are interested in warehouses in this direction, preferring to conclude short-term contracts for less than three years.

The restructuring of routes to the east is a long-term trend, so the demand for logoparks will not go anywhere, Konstantin Fomichenko is convinced. The change in the direction of cargo flows should not be considered decisive for warehouse development, since proximity to the markets for goods is necessary to determine the location of new construction, objects Zakhar Valkov. In addition, in any crisis, the largest drop in rental rates begins with warehouse facilities that are more distant from Moscow, Evgeny Bumagin adds.

Despite the turn of logistics to the east, development activity will be only in the center of the country, namely in the Moscow region, Alexey Misailov, director of business development at FM Logistic in Russia, agrees. It is here that the largest distribution centers of federal networks, as well as warehouses of the main marketplaces, are located, he recalls. According to NF Group, in the metropolitan region, the volume of supply in the warehouse market now exceeds 24.8 million square meters. m.

Daria Andrianova, Natalia Skorlygina