The Finns are leaving the hotel – Newspaper Kommersant No. 26 (7471) of 02/13/2023
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The Finnish concern EKE is getting rid of its latest project in Russia – the unfinished office and hotel complex San Gally Park in the center of St. Petersburg. It is acquired by Eduard Tiktinsky’s RBI group, which can convert the area into an apartment complex. This segment, despite the fall in the whole real estate market, is still more promising compared to hotels and offices, experts believe.
Kommersant’s sources in the real estate market told about the purchase of RBI from the Finnish EKE of the construction project for the office and hotel complex San Gally Park on Ligovsky Prospekt. According to one of them, the parties reached a preliminary agreement on the deal. EKE and RBI declined to comment.
Fizika Development Managing Partner Alexander Kravtsov estimates the deal between RBI and EKE at RUB 3-4 billion, IPG Russia Managing Partner Ivan Pochinshchikov at RUB 5-6 billion. The project has been completed by 30%, so additional investment in construction will amount to about 150 thousand rubles. for 1 sq. m, says Dina Bulychenko, head of the Yard Group sales department. This is a profitable deal for RBI, as the site is located in a promising location, Mr. Kravtsov is sure.
RBI builds luxury and business class housing and manages Artstudio apartment complexes in St. Petersburg. The group was founded in 1993 and is owned by Eduard Tiktinsky. The volume of implemented objects exceeds 2 million square meters. The developer’s revenue in 2021 amounted to 13 billion rubles, net profit – 2.3 billion rubles.
San Gally Park is the last remaining EKE project on the Russian market. The concern built the Two Epochs residential complex on Vasilevsky Island in St. Petersburg and the Pulkovo Sky business center (76,000 sq. m.), which was recently sold to the Balchug Capital fund. EKE is owned by the family of company founder Bertel Eckengren. The group’s revenue in 2021 amounted to €135.5 million.
EKE bought 2.5 hectares on Ligovsky Prospekt from the Austrian Strabag in 2017, planning to build three business centers on the site with a total area of 47 thousand square meters. m and a four-star hotel with 298 rooms. Investments in the project were estimated at €120 million (9.3 billion rubles at the current exchange rate). EKE started construction of the complex in 2021 and expected to complete the work by 2024. But in March 2022, the Finnish publication Rakennuslehti announced the suspension of the project due to the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
If changes are made to the documentation on the site, it is possible to build an apartment complex, Mr. Pochinshchikov believes. It is more profitable for RBI to acquire only a hotel building for these purposes, but EKE was not ready to sell the project in parts, explains Mr. Kravtsov. Andrey Boikov, managing partner of Rusland SP, does not rule out that only the hotel will be included in the deal. But in the case of buying the entire complex, business centers can be resold, since it will be difficult to convert them into apartments, and the office market feels unstable, the expert argues.
According to NF Group, 2.1 thousand apartments were sold in St. Petersburg in 2022, which is more than two times lower than in 2021. Demand for non-service apartments over this period increased by 16%, and for service objects of this format fell by 60%, the company calculated. Nevertheless, in the last three months, the segment has seen a gradual recovery in sales, emphasizes Mr. Kravtsov. Last year, Ms. Bulychenko adds, the average occupancy of aparthotels was 20% higher than that of classic hotels.
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