Concern “Monarch” bought a site of the former state farm in the east of Moscow

VTB-controlled Hals Development, operating in the market of high-budget housing and business centers, got rid of a site in the east of Moscow. More than 4 hectares on Saltykovskaya Street, on the site of the former greenhouses of the Mossovet state farm, were transferred to the structures of the Monarkh concern by Sergei Ambartsumyan. Unlike most other Hals projects, experts say, the sold site did not promise high profitability and had rather low liquidity.

Tigran Tsaturyan became the new owner of Azbuka Investments LLC, which has 4.4 hectares on Saltykovskaya Street in eastern Moscow on the site of the former greenhouses of the Mossovet state farm, discovered Kommersant in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. Hals Development, which owned this site, confirmed the sale of the asset to Kommersant, refusing to comment further.

The full namesake of Mr. Tsaturyan is the top manager of the Monarkh construction concern of Sergey Ambartsumyan. So, in 2022, Tigran Tsaturyan, as Deputy General Director of Monarch Concern LLC, signed an agreement with the authorities of the Moscow Region on the implementation of an investment project on the territory of the Dubna SEZ. According to Kartoteka.ru, he also acts as the owner of Grid Company LLC, which was previously controlled by Mr. Ambartsumyan. Monarch did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Timur Ryvkin, director of the land development department at Nikoliers, estimates the market value of the site at 700–900 million rubles.

In his opinion, for Hals Development, which specializes in the construction of high-budget housing and offices, the project in Kosino-Ukhtomsky, where Saltykovskaya Street is located, is out of the format.

Previously, the site in Kosino-Ukhtomsky belonged to Mosmetrostroy JSC and went to Hals Development from the shareholder, VTB Group. In 2017, VTB received a 49% stake in this JSC as part of debt repayment. The obligations were settled, among other things, through the sale of a number of assets of Mosmetrostroy, whose business was consolidated by the Moscow City Hall in the fall of 2022.

Viktor Adamov, CEO of Hals Development, in an interview Vedomosti in October 2022:
“The old Hals Development no longer exists.”

Tatyana Podkidysheva, executive director of NDV Real Estate Supermarket, believes that about 160,000 sq. m. can be built on the site on Saltykovskaya Street. m of real estate, of which most will be for housing. According to Metrium Managing Director Ruslan Syrtsov, the amount of investment in the project could be about 15 billion rubles. With favorable market conditions, according to his calculations, the proceeds from the sale of space will reach 23-24 billion rubles. Potential marginality is relatively low, agrees Mr. Syrtsov.

Best Novostroy says that the competition among developers in the vicinity of Saltykovskaya Street is now low. But Timur Ryvkin warns that the site is subject to the restrictions of the sanitary protection zone, including due to the proximity of the gas turbine power plant. Other disadvantages of the site Tatiana Podkidysheva calls the location outside the Moscow Ring Road and a significant distance from the Novokosino and Ulitsa Dmitrievskogo metro stations.

The site in Kosino-Ukhtomsky is not the only asset of Mosmetrostroy transferred to Hals Development. From the end of 2021, according to Kartoteka.ru, the developer structures also control Expert Nedvizhimost LLC (owns 2.7 hectares on Staroobriadcheskaya Street in Lefortovo) and Globus Nedvizhimost LLC (it owns 5.5 hectares on Biryusinka Street in Golyanovo). Both sites, according to a Kommersant source on the market, are now being actively offered to potential buyers.

Alexandra Mertsalova