Developers are leaving the Golden Island

Due to the more than halving demand for elite new buildings in Moscow, major developers began to think about withdrawing from such projects. Thus, MR Group could assign the reconstruction of part of the Kokorevsky Compound on the Golden Island opposite the Kremlin to a structure associated with the former top manager of Tekta Group. Experts do not exclude that this year there will be more such transactions on the market.

MR Group of Roman Timokhin and Viktor Labuzdko withdrew from the project to reconstruct a building on Sofiyskaya Embankment in the center of Moscow, a Kommersant source in the real estate market told Kommersant. This is also confirmed by data from SPARK-Interfax, which indicates that at the beginning of 2023, the new beneficiary of Suplex Technologies LLC, on whose balance sheet there is 0.2 hectares and a building of 5.7 thousand square meters. m on the Golden Island, through a number of legal entities became Grid Rus LLC. This company, in turn, is 60% owned by Viktor Fominykh, 40% by Vitaly Groznov. MR Group was unable to confirm this information. It was not possible to contact the Fomins and Groznovs.

One of Kommersant’s sources says that the deal was in the interests of the developer and, in addition to this purchase, MR Group is preparing to sell another site to this company, without specifying what kind of asset it is. According to SPARK-Interfax, Viktor Fominykh and Vitaly Groznov also each have a 25% stake in Gravion Realty LLC, in which a 40.91% stake belongs to former Tekta Group top manager Yuri Nemanezhin, managing partner of Gravion Group. One of the consultants in the real estate market heard about the participation of this company in the transaction. There is only one project in the portfolio of Gravion Group so far – the reconstruction of the Varshava Hotel near the Oktyabrskaya metro station in the center of the capital. The company did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

The project opposite the Kremlin was acquired by MR Group in July 2021. Then the representative of the company said that it was planned to reconstruct the building into an apartment complex for 15 thousand square meters. m. According to Timur Ryvkin, director of the land development department at Nikoliers, this project now costs 4.5–5 billion rubles. According to his calculations, it will be necessary to invest 5–6 billion rubles in construction, and the proceeds from the sale of apartments can reach 20–22 billion rubles. In this location, there are seven projects for sale with a weighted average price level of 1.5 million rubles. for 1 sq. m, recalls the director of business development, consulting and analytics Kalinka Julia Pronina.

In the market of elite new buildings in Moscow in 2022, demand fell by 60% year-on-year, Kalinka calculated. A significant decline was expectedly observed in the second half of 2022, analysts explain. At the same time, the volume of supply in the market increased by 25% year-on-year. Despite this, now there is a revival on the part of developers in the implementation and release of new projects, Yulia Pronina notes.

A Kommersant source in the real estate market knows that MR Group acquired the site without documents for reconstruction, and after agreeing on them, decided to sell it to another investor. The company often does this. For example, in 2022, the developer sold the Granel Group of Companies 7 hectares on the territory of the Moscow Fraser plant, Brusnik sold 6.9 hectares in Ogorodny passage on the site of the former Ostankino brewery, and SMU-6 Investments sold 6 hectares of land in Ogorodny passage, where the Asphaltobeton plant used to be.

Other major developers in Moscow also periodically sell their land. For example, the Pioneer group last year implemented a project to build the Otkrytoe Shosse transport hub in the east of Moscow, the Mangazeya Group of Companies. Yulia Pronina expects that in 2023 there will be even more significant market restructuring, as those developers who do not have sufficient financial resources will exit projects.

Daria Andrianova