BUSINESS HABITAT: Business Territory

With office developers withdrawing their attention from downtown Moscow the city has seen the emergence of four new districts that can already be considered full-fledged independent business zones.

After the city’s first-ever business districts – CBD and ZAM in the Central Administrative Okrug [district] and Zamoskvorechye respectively – were filled with Class A and B offices, office development moved northwards and westwards, as well as to the southwest and southeast of Moscow where plenty of building plots and convenient transport routes offered favorable conditions for construction.

With as many as nine completed office centers the northern business district is one of the most highly developed office areas in Moscow, stretching from Tverskaya Zastava Square along Leningradsky Prospekt and Leningradskoye Shosse beyond the Third Ring Road.

There are also several Class A and B office complexes under construction in the area including the 6,431-square-meter Sokol Center by Capital Group; Sistema Hals’ Siemens Business Park with 27,000 square meters of office space; a 300,000-square-meter multifunctional center near the Voikovskaya metro station by Capital Partners; an office complex at 3, Ulitsa Viktorenko [street] by MR Development (15,735 square meters of office space), and the 130,000-square-metrer Greenwood park by MKTs (with 13,500 square meters of office space).

A project dubbed Vorota Moskvy, or the Moscow Gate, which has remained at the planning stage for quite a while, will probably be launched anew in the near future. Another prospective building plot for office development is Khodynskoye Field. Leningradka – as Leningradsky Prospekt and Leningradskoye Shosse are commonly referred to – is a strategic route through the area that links the capital with the Sheremetievo international airport.

The second business quarter is being formed within a triangle between the Kievsky train station, Bryanskaya Ulitsa, Kutuzovsky Prospekt and the Third Ring Road.

In addition to the 13,000-square-meter Europa Building several new projects have been launched in the area lately including a business center on Mozhaisky Val, the office centers Kievsky and Legion-4, and another one, at 13, Bryanskaya Ulitsa. Key developers in the area are Mirax Group and Legion Development.

The third area of office development stretches between Prospekt Vernadskogo and Leninsky Prospekt, and between Profsoyuznaya Ulitsa, Nakhimovsky and Sevastopolsky avenues where five office complexes, including the 45,000-square-meter Cherry Tower, have already been commissioned.

One of the leading developers active in that district is the company Kvartal involved in the construction of residential and office properties, such as the one at 1, Udaltsova Ulitsa. Another key player is the Vysota company, developing properties between Nakhimovsky and Sevastopolsky.

The fourth business district is situated within a triangle between the Taganskaya and Dubrovka metro station and Volgogradsky Prospekt, encompassing reportedly some 20 hectares suitable for office development. Among other factors, the proximity of the Third Ring Road has boosted the appeal of the area for developers.

At the same time, the future of the Central Business District remains unclear, as building plots are running out while more value is being placed on the historic significance and tourist potential of the area.