Since the beginning of the year, one shopping center has been put into operation in Moscow

The commissioning of new shopping centers in Moscow in the first half of 2023 decreased by 29% compared to the same period last year to 27,000 sq. m. m, follows from the report of the consulting company NF Group. It says that the only open facility during this time was Mitino Park (for comparison, three complexes were commissioned in the first six months of 2022).

The construction of several more facilities has actually been completed, but they have not been put into operation, according to consultants interviewed by Vedomosti. Among them are “Planet” (4700 sq.m), “Kuvshinka” (5300 sq.m) and “Zvezdny” (5300 sq.m). In addition, the development company ADG Group planned to open several regional shopping centers on the site of old Soviet cinemas. But, according to consultants, she did not have time to complete her projects and decided to postpone their launch to the fall of this year or the winter of next year. A request to ADG remained unanswered.

As a rule, the opening of new shopping centers is postponed due to difficulties arising in the process of finding tenants, explains Ekaterina Nogai, head of the research and analytics department at IBC Real Estate. She recalls that previously, a significant part of the space in most complexes was occupied by international brands, which eventually left Russia, for example, Ikea, H&M, Zara, etc.

However, 12 shopping centers are expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2023, and if all announced projects are implemented, the volume of new supply will be 130,000 sq. m. m. (total leasable area) and will exceed last year’s figure by 5%, according to the NF Group report.

Indeed, about a dozen more retail real estate projects are being prepared for opening, however, most likely, the commissioning of some of them will be postponed due to difficulties in finding tenants and the slow pace of construction, Nogai is sure.

Meanwhile, the share of vacant space in quality shopping centers in Moscow dropped to 12.2% in the first six months (-3.4 p.p. compared to the same period in 2022). This is due to the fact that Russian retailers are actively occupying space that was previously rented by international brands, according to NF Group analysts. Among them are Gloria Jeans, Melon Fashion Group, Lady&Gentleman City, Lime, etc.

In the second half of the year, NF Group analysts predict a decrease in the share of vacant space to 6.5%.