“Granel” will occupy the warehouse – Newspaper Kommersant No. 6 (7451) dated 16.01.

Developers became interested in the program of the Moscow Mayor’s Office to provide incentives for the transfer of land plots for housing construction in exchange for the construction of logoparks. Thus, the Granel Group of Companies may buy out a site in New Moscow, where it is possible to build a warehouse complex for 80 thousand square meters. m worth more than 3 billion rubles. Experts expect that there will be more such deals on the market.

GC “Granel” may buy out the warehouse complex “Kyiv, 22” for 41 thousand square meters. m in Pervomaisky, in New Moscow, from the United Europe Holding cosmetics distributor, which until 2016 was a co-owner of the Ile de Beaute network. The deal is scheduled to close in the near future. This was told by a Kommersant source in the real estate market and confirmed by the interlocutor of Kommersant, close to Granel. Two more sources of Kommersant reported that other companies also claim the asset, without naming them. Granel declined to comment, United Europe Holding did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Europe Holding has already tried to sell the warehouse in New Moscow. In January 2022, the UK-based investment fund Raven Russia received approval from the Federal Antimonopoly Service to acquire the asset. However, due to the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, a number of transactions, including this one, fell through (see Kommersant dated April 5, 2022).

Now the value of this asset may be 2.3 billion rubles, says Union Brokers CEO Oleg Grigoriev. As the interlocutor of Kommersant, who is familiar with the situation, clarifies, the deal will also include a site that allows you to build a logo park of 80 thousand square meters. m. This site can be estimated at another 600-800 million rubles, says Mr. Grigoriev. The construction of a logopark now costs developers 40–45 thousand rubles. for 1 sq. m, explains Andrey Novikov, Director of Finance and Investments at Smart Development Group of Companies. Thus, investments in the project can reach 3.2–3.6 billion rubles.

The purchase of projects for the construction of warehouses by housing developers is associated with benefits provided by the Moscow City Hall to companies when changing the type of permitted use (VRI) of land, the director of Ricci | Warehouses” Dmitry Gerastovsky. In his opinion, the meaning of buying an object lies precisely in making a profit during the construction of the second stage of the object on an additional site.

In 2020, the mayor’s office increased the fee for changing VRI sites to housing developers from two to eight times, depending on their location. Developers can partially offset the amount of the payment by building offices, a technology park, a shopping center or a hotel in areas with an insufficient number of jobs. In 2022, the program also included facilities for the provision of integrated logistics services.

Unlike office and retail real estate, the logopark segment feels relatively well during this crisis, says Anastasia Kornevich, director of the warehouse property management department at Accent Capital. And due to the lack of construction of new facilities, almost all existing warehouses are already occupied, she recalls. According to Ricci, the vacancy rate for warehouse real estate in Moscow and the Moscow region in 2022 was only 2.5%.

Taking into account the requirements of the Moscow City Hall for commercial infrastructure, developers will continue to build such facilities, predicts Anastasia Kornevich. Benefits from the VRI, she concludes, will allow developers to reduce losses during periods of subsidence of the commercial real estate market, and as the infrastructure of New Moscow develops, such facilities will begin to bring more profit.

Daria Andrianova