Novostal-M is getting rid of a recently purchased office in the north of Moscow

The metallurgical company Novostal-M, which bought a 14,000-sq. m in the north of Moscow, decided to get rid of the asset. According to Kommersant’s information, the holding has almost reached an agreement on the sale of an office building with the structures of LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov and Leonid Fedun, but they were not satisfied with the asking price. The seller, who paid up to 5 billion rubles for the office center himself, tried to sell it at a 20% higher price. However, there is currently a shortage of such space on the market, which is why, according to consultants, the situation is in favor of their sellers.

Metallurgical holding Novostal-M, which bought out 14,000 sq. m in the Stone Towers business cluster in the north of Moscow, decided to sell this asset, several sources told Kommersant. The company was acquiring a facility for its own headquarters, they said, with plans to expand staff. But now the holding needed funds for business development, which dictated the sale of space. The company itself did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Novostal-M bought the building of the business center from the developer of the Stone project Maxim Geyser for about 5 billion rubles. Now, according to one of Kommersant’s sources, the company has requested 6 billion rubles for this asset. The current market value of the object with the plot Director of Sales and Acquisitions “Ricci | Offices” Dmitry Antonov estimates at 5.5 billion rubles. Now, following the cost of construction, prices for office real estate have also increased, explains Dmitry Klapsha, managing partner of Remain. Similar objects were also sold on the market, for example, Alcon III business centers, areas in the Prime Time residential complex, and potential buyers of large office space have nothing to choose from, Mr. Klapsha adds.

Novostal-M was negotiating the sale of its business center with the structures of LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov and Leonid Fedun, three Kommersant sources know in the real estate market. However, the deal did not take place, as the potential buyer was not satisfied with the price, says one of Kommersant’s interlocutors. Private Assets JSC, which manages the assets of Messrs. Alekperov and Fedun, did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

In the context of growing demand for large volumes of office space and a shortage of quality supply on the market, the search for a new owner will most likely not take much time, says Alexey Novikov, managing partner of NF Group. In the first half of 2023, according to CORE.XP, the volume of transactions for the purchase and sale of office real estate in Moscow almost doubled year-on-year, to 236,000 sq. m. m, of which 80% was for the purchase of space for their own use, although a year earlier the figure was only 50%. A buyer will be found in a short time if the seller lowers the asking price, believes Dmitry Antonov.

Now a picture is emerging that has not been observed over the past ten years: the market is completely on the side of the seller, Mr. Antonov notes. This is due, in particular, to high demand from companies. Since the beginning of the year, a number of major transactions have been concluded on the market, when companies bought objects for their headquarters, Aleksey Novikov recalls. According to him, government agencies, the real sector of the economy and banks are the drivers of demand. According to IBC Real Estate estimates, 80% of the office space in the properties completed in the first half of the year was unavailable for rent, as it was sold in advance or initially did not provide for the possibility of entering the open market.

Daria Andrianova