View From Within: Easier to Build From Scratch

The first group is made up of those who have sufficient cash to spare but are after exclusive variants and prestige and open their hotels on the premises, say, of historic buildings. Marina Smirnova, deputy head of valuation and consulting at Colliers International, believes that the second group comprises companies who do not have sufficient funds and opt for redevelopment of buildings designated for various uses, which is cheaper. Redevelopment projects are believed to be 20 to 40 percent cheaper than new construction. The third category comprises companies who own operating hotels and from time to time initiate projects to upgrade their properties.

But all of the above-mentioned operators have to deal with a predicament. All need to devise new solutions for buildings with obsolete floor plans and at the same time avoid losing their star rankings and cash. There are several options for creation of hotels on the premises of properties previously designated for other uses. Those include refurbishment of old hotels build in the Stalin ear or in the 1980s, reconstruction of residential blocks, offices or administrative buildings. A special option is the redevelopment of historic buildings – architectural monuments, city manor houses and countryside estates. There are no average figures reflecting the cost of redevelopment, nor any common techniques used by architects and designers when working on such projects.

“Each hotel is so unique that design solutions applied may never be repeated elsewhere,” says Viktor Kukushkin, head of architectural bureau at the company Heliopark Group.

What is common for all hotel redevelopment projects, perhaps, is that architects and designers have to deal with many restrictions. Specifics of layout forces the authors of the projects to devise new solutions and resort to various ruses in order to create comfortable rooms meeting the standards set by the class of the hotel and conceal the faults of the property.

Viktor Kukushkin says that architects and designers involved in redevelopment of hotel properties are always paid higher than their colleagues working on other projects. Professionals have to come to terms, so to speak, with the authors of the previous project, which may take months.

Redevelopment requires more efforts than new construction, experts believe. Evelina Ishmetova, head of consulting at GVA Sawyer, wrote in one her publications: “Intensive construction of recent years has resulted in practically entire take-up of free plots of land… A logical sequel to reorganization of city properties is the development of singular spots of land and implementation of more complicated projects involving reconstruction of existing buildings and redevelopment of established territories.”

Experts at the architectural and construction company ASK (which is part of the Zolotoi Dom group of companies) says that sometimes redevelopment proves to be so complicated that investors are recommended to pull down existing properties and launch a new construction from scratch. Everything depends on the type of property that needs to be rebuilt, the state it is in and its original functional use. As a rule, investors make their decision on the basis of a survey of technical characteristics of the building. For example, it may turn out that the building in question is not suitable for construction of a superstructure due to insufficient bearing capacity or that making additional doorways in its walls is impossible.

3-Star Hotel Experiments

The company Siti-Otel (City Hotel) specializes in development and reconstruction of hotels and office complexes in Russia. According to the company’s press-service, in the recent years City Hotel focused on moderately-priced economy class hotels that fall into the three-star category in international rankings. This year City Hotel acquired a franchise from the international hotel chain Best Western, which operates over 4,200 properties in 80 countries. Under the deal the company is authorized to represent the brand in Russia.

Some of the projects by City Hotel are implemented in cooperation with the team of Germany’s design and consulting bureau PCG. PCG has already built projects in several cities of Russia and other former Soviet states – in Perm, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Ufa, Astana and Almaty. At the 4th all-Russian conference titled “Commercial Real Estate in Russia: Management, Investment, Development” held on Sept 25-27 in St. Petersburg, Manfred Ronschtedt presented two projects at once – various design solutions for hotels under construction in Yakhroma, in Moscow countryside, and in Sherrizone not far from Sheremetievo Airport.

The Yakhroma project envisages redevelopment of army barracks into a hotel property. Marina Smirnova believes that the plan has good prospects as the traditional corridor layout typical of such buildings is similar to internal layout of a hotel property. Manfred Ronschtedt says that the future hotel Yakhroma will belong to the 3-star category. The project will provide 126 rooms of regular quadrilateral form. The hotel, to be launched in 2007, is situated at a distance of 600 meters from the resort zone and greenery, not far from Dmitrovskoye Highway. The location is appealing to vacationers given its proximity to a popular sports and leisure complex of the same name. Standard rooms will offer satellite TV, WiFi web connection and international telephone lines. The project also provides a restaurant, round-the-clock bar, billiards and a cigar room.

Sherrizone Hotel under construction not far from Sheremetievo I and Sheremetievo II airports is not a reconstruction project. But then, it is the first 3-star hotel targeting business community to be built in Moscow’s first free economic zone. Albeit built from scratch, Sherrizone is a classic example of a space-saving project. Where an architect is not able to create spacious interior rooms due to specifics of the site he is forced to devise new solutions. In Sherrizone, a square-shaped bathroom could upset the comfort of the entire space. One of its walls protruded into the bedroom, blocking the anteroom. The architects removed that angle and redesigned the bathroom so as to preserve all necessary equipment therein.

The City Hotel – PCG tandem also worked on reconstruction of Murom Hotel (formerly, Rus’) in Murom. The project was carried out in stages to avoid interruption of operations. By the end of 2006 the hotel is to be transformed into a modern facility meeting European standards. The renovated complex will provide a restaurant and bars, conference halls and a state-of-the-art fitness center.

Simple Rules of Exclusive Projects

“There are plenty of solutions for creating a comfortable interior in a renovated building,” Viktor Kukushkin says. “For example, if the size of the building does not allows for creating larger spaces in corridors and creating such spaces are unprofitable (as a rule, nobody ever sits there), it is possible simply to widen corridors in several places or use different color solutions on those spots.”

Any redesign project follows a set of simple rules. “What cannot be concealed ought to be brought to the fore”, for example, to paint pipes suspended beneath the ceiling bright yellow. Horizontal lines in interior create a visual effect of expanded space, while vertical lines make ceilings seem higher. Light colors make the room more spacious while somber tones create a cozy and intimate atmosphere.

Also, the law of the dominant should be observed. Any interior must have something that serves as a focus of attention. In other words, it is inadmissible to color the entire room pink, for example. There is a story often told by architects of a successful young designer who had created an exquisite interior using expensive materials but for some reason he did not feel comfortable there.

The entire space, it seemed, was falling into parts. Then he called his former mentor and sought his advice. The teacher found a red ashtray somewhere and installed it on a table in the center of the room. That ashtray proved to be the only lacking element, which was needed to “re-unite” all the parts of the “disintegrated” space.

St. Petersburg Style

Viktor Kukushkin says that old buildings are often short of space. Tenement houses are designed in such a manner that although the floors have corridor layout the rooms are too small in size. They are reminiscent of narrow pencil-boxes. In such cases architects usually combine rooms replacing several smaller spaces with a single room of a larger size. But something has to be devised in order to remove a superfluous window, as every room in old tenement houses has a separate window.

City Hotel is working on the project Fontanka 116, which provides for reconstruction of a 1950s-built property. The developer is set to transform the facility into a mixed-use complex featuring a 4-star hotel with 180 rooms, offices and a restaurant. Double rooms will have either one double bed or a single bed and a chair-bed, as well as traditional set of furniture items – a writing-table, a TV set and a phone with international access, a mini-bar and a bathroom.

St. Petersburg has plenty of historic buildings. The city is a great place for conducting business tours of hotel development projects, indeed! Numerous reconstruction projects are underway in St. Petersburg these days. The program of hotel development is supported by professional public groups and the city government.

In the past twelve months plans were made public to overhaul Soviet-era hotels Severnaya Korona, Pulkovskaya, Oktyabrskaya, etc. Pulkovskaya Hotel has already been acquired by Norway’s Wenaas.

The new owner has invited Rezidor SAS to operate the property, renamed Park Inn Pulkovskaya. Park Inn is one of the brands operated by Rezidor SAS Hospitality. Pulkovskaya is the second Park Inn hotel in Russia. The first property under the same brand – a 160-room 3-star complex – was launched in early 2006 in Yekaterinburg. In the spring of this year the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development issued a $39.7 million loan for construction and operation of Park Inn hotels in Russia.

Construction of Severnaya Korona, that was to become a 247-room luxury hotel, on Karpovka River Embankment began in 1988. The building works were suspended in 1995, when the project was nearly completed. In 2004 AKB Evrofinans Mosnarbank purchased the development from the bank St. Petersburg. The new owner hired Starwood Hotels & Resorts to run the property. The hotel will operate under the brand Le Meridien, Starwood Hotels & Resorts said in a statement. It will provide a total of 322 rooms, conference halls, two restaurants, a spa center and a swimming pool.

Golden Legacy of Soviet-era Tourism Industry

Developers’ interest for Soviet-built hotels in Moscow and other Russian cities does not wane. Owners of the domestic hotel chain Amaks Grand Hotels Dmitry Zlatkin, Alexander Aspidov and Valery Garayev believe that a redeveloped Soviet hotel may pay back in five years. They have established a chain of 14 hotel complexes – the largest network of Soviet-era hotels in the country.

All properties operated by Amaks Grand Hotels are vivid examples of redevelopment. The chain has already spent a total of $20 million on reconstruction and plan to put up another $10 million before the end of this year. “If the plan is simply to upgrade a hotel (usually, not higher than 4 stars) it is better to renovate it in stages, one floor after the other,” holds Marina Smirnova. In her opinion, that could have been possible in Moscow’s Intourist Hotel, which was dismantled. Examples of hotels renovated in stages are Vostok or Zolotoye Koltso near Smolenskaya metro station on the Garden Ring. As a result, the property was transformed into a luxury hotel.

Some redevelopment projects prove to be too expensive. For example, the cost of reconstruction of each room in the Novotel project on Novoslobodskaya Street in Moscow stood at $137,000, Smirnova says. At first, the developer had planned an office center on the site, but that idea was abandoned. Business centers are designed differently. Besides, modern offices are open-plan; corridor layouts typical of hotels are rare.

Fashion for Boutique Hotels

Exclusive design solutions correspond ideally to the concept of boutique hotels, envisaging creation of a unique property. The most celebrated boutique hotel in Moscow is perhaps Golden Apple designed by architect Rafael Shafir. The hotel was named the first Moscow hotel “with an idea”. It is situated at 11 Malaya Dmitrovka. The lobby of the hotel features an enormous golden apple that takes up half of the internal space.

Another boutique hotel developer is the company Russkiye Oteli (Russian Hotels), who cooperates with the international hotel operator The Stein Group Hotels. In Krasnodar they have begun a joint project worth $45 million. In Sochi, the partners have already opened a hotel Rodina, on the premises of the Soviet-era health resort of the same name. In Soviet times the facility was popular with the government elite.

The new hotel provides 42 rooms including 6 luxury rooms with terraces. The rooms measure 50sqm and over. It seems that it did not cost the developers and architects much effort to turn the luxurious resort into a no less luxurious boutique hotel. The complex had a suitable floor plan and vast adjacent territory with beaches and tennis courts. The authors of the project added more modern amenities, such as spa facilities and a seaside restaurant and bar.

Boutique hotels do not always require much effort or huge spending, Marina Smirnova agrees. The fashion for boutique hotels in Russia came from abroad, of course. Speaking at a master class held on the sidelines of the Moscow International Hospitality Forum, president of the U.S. company Chicago Design Patrick T. King presented his solutions for a boutique hotel built in Hamburg, Germany. The project is an example of a redeveloped derelict foundry. The designer offered two space expanding solutions.

Firstly, more room may be created by building new spaces above the existing property (the exterior method). Secondly, a competent interior design solution of combining a bed and a table frees space. The shortage of space also prompted the authors of the hotel project to downsize bathrooms by installing the washing-bowl right in the room. The toilet and the shower cabin are separated from the bedroom with transparent partitions.