Level Group acquired a site in New Moscow for the construction of a logopark

The shortage of warehouse space in Moscow and the Moscow region is encouraging large housing developers to enter this segment. Level Group, founded by ex-senator Vadim Moshkovich, acquired a site in New Moscow for the construction of a logo park with an area of ​​50 thousand square meters. m. Experts warn that the implementation of such projects may be complicated by a shortage of personnel.

Level Group acquired 20 hectares between Kaluga and Kyiv highways in the area of ​​the Central Ring Road in New Moscow for the construction of a logo park with an area of ​​50 thousand square meters. m, the company told Kommersant. Level Group CEO Kirill Ignakhin clarifies that the design is planned to be completed in six months, construction will take another 2–2.5 years. CMWP partner Egor Dorofeev estimated the cost of the facility at 2.75–3 billion rubles.

A Kommersant source familiar with the deal says that the site cost Level Group 250–300 million rubles. The seller of the site, according to Kirill Ignakhin, was a private person. Another Kommersant interlocutor says that the asset was sold by Absolut Group of Companies to Alexander Svetakov. According to data from extracts from the Unified State Register available to Kommersant, until June 2022, the land plot was owned by the closed mutual fund Podolsky of Everest Asset Management. This management company was created by the owners of the Absolut Group of Companies, the Vedomosti newspaper wrote. The last owners of the land in the Unified State Register are Softline LLC and Holding Management JSC. It was not possible to contact these structures. Absolut did not answer Kommersant.

Level Group was founded by ex-senator Vadim Moshkovich and Kirill Ignakhin in 2016. According to Nash.Dom.RF, it is now building 649 thousand square meters. m. of housing. Kirill Ignakhin, in an interview with Kommersant, estimated the developer’s revenue in 2022 at 60–65 billion rubles. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, 39.09% of Level Group LLC is owned by Kirill Ignakhin, 3.03% by Alexander Merkulov, 57.88% by Financial Resource LLC, previously owned by Mr. Moshkovich. In March 2022, EU and UK sanctions were imposed on the businessman. Now the founders of “Financial Resource” are not disclosed.

Previously, Level Group was not involved in the construction of warehouses. Considering current rental rates and the lack of available space, the direction seems promising, says Kirill Ignakhin. According to calculations by NF Group partner Konstantin Fomichenko, at the end of 2023 there was 0.1% of free space in logo parks in Moscow and the Moscow region. Average rental rates for such real estate in 2023 increased by 54%, to 8.5 thousand rubles. for 1 sq. m per year, he clarified.

Many housing developers in Moscow are entering the market with warehouse or industrial real estate projects, mainly concentrated in the territory of New Moscow, notes Egor Dorofeev. Land for similar projects was acquired by GC Granel, Ingrad, and MR Group. PIK Group is building industrial parks “Butovo” and “Senkino” and a complex on Kievskoe Highway, Capital Group is building technology parks in Zelenograd and in the village of Krekshino in New Moscow. CMWP estimates that housing developers could build up to 3 million square meters in the next three years. m of warehouse or industrial real estate in Moscow and the Moscow region.

Anton Alyabyev, head of the warehouse and industrial real estate department at CORE.XP, believes that the primary reason for housing developers’ interest in the warehouse segment is to receive benefits for changing the type of permitted use of land for housing development. In such cases, the issue of making a profit from the project may not be in the foreground, since this is not the main business of such developers, adds the director of Ricci | Warehouses” Dmitry Gerastovsky.

General Director of Union Brokers Oleg Grigoriev points out that in areas remote from the city, during the construction of warehouses, difficulties may arise with the installation of utilities. In addition, he notes, there is a growing shortage of personnel in the industry, which will first be felt by the developer, and then by the tenant of the finished property. The further beyond the Moscow Ring Road the logopark is located, the more difficult it is to find workers, warns Mr. Grigoriev. However, says Igor Krotenkov, director for warehouse and industrial premises at IBC Real Estate, as long as the Moscow City Hall program for the sale of warehouse real estate in exchange for benefits is in effect, the practice of implementing such projects in Moscow from housing developers will continue.

Daria Andrianova