De luxe накроет Большую Полянку

Developer of elite real estate Vesper launches construction of a new complex worth 3 billion rubles on Bolshaya Polyanka. In order not to disrupt the construction economy, the company needs to sell two or three apartments per month - almost half the average sales rate in the de luxe segment.

Vesper co-owners Boris Azarenko and Denis Kitaev will build the elite residential complex Cloud Nine on Bolshaya Polyanka, one of the company's co-owners told Kommersant. The project involves the renovation of four buildings facing Bolshaya Polyanka and Staromonetny Lane. The total area of the project is 16.3 thousand sq. m, which includes 45 apartments ranging from 81 to 280 sq. m. The developer plans to finish construction in 2018, with an investment volume of 3 billion rubles, clarified Vesper CEO Boris Azarenko. The declared investment volume in construction corresponds to average market indicators, said Maria Litinetskaya, Managing Partner of Metrium Group.

Currently, Vesper has 11 projects in its portfolio, eight of which are in Moscow, and the rest are in Europe. In 2014, for several months, the majority shareholder of the company was O1 Group owned by Boris Mints (which owned 70% of the company), but eventually sold its stake. Currently, the company is owned by Boris Azarenko and Denis Kitaev. Financial indicators are not disclosed.

According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kalinka Group, Ekaterina Rumyantseva, currently there are 50 residential projects in the elite segment available on the primary market, with an average budget of 109 million rubles per apartment - which is only 6% cheaper than before the crisis in 2014. The cost of buying elite real estate has decreased due to the reduction in the size of apartments in many projects, although at the same time, the weighted average price, according to calculations by Kalinka Group, has increased by 8% to 772 thousand rubles per sq. m. For comparison, since 2014, prices for economy-class housing in Moscow have decreased by 20% (data from IRN). Mr. Azarenko claims that apartments in Cloud Nine will be sold at a price of 700 thousand rubles per sq. m at the initial stage. According to him, from January to November of this year, the number of transactions at Vesper has increased by 50% compared to the same period last year. "Next year, we plan to introduce four more projects to the market," he hopes.

Developers of luxury housing are not reducing their activity during the crisis, notes Ms. Rumyantseva. This year, 11 new projects have entered the market (in 2014 there were 12), including five deluxe class projects, to which the new Vesper project belongs. Its appearance on the market has eliminated the projected 8% decrease in new offerings in this segment compared to last year, adds the expert. Ms. Litinetskaya highlighted two projects that Cloud Nine will directly compete with - Mon Cher on Bolshaya Yakimanka and the residential complex "Polyanka/44". Prices in Mon Cher range from 0.72 to 1.1 million rubles per square meter, and in "Polyanka/44" - from 0.55 to 1 million rubles per square meter. In order for the Cloud Nine project to have an adequate economy, Vesper will only need to sell two to three apartments in the future complex - this is not so much even in the current market, notes Maria Litinetskaya. This falls within the average sales pace in the de luxe primary housing segment, agrees Ekaterina Rumyantseva. According to her data, around 50 deals were concluded this year, or four to six deals per month - this is twice as many as last year, but 24% less than in 2015.

Ekaterina Geraschenko