In St. Petersburg last year, sales of apartments started in the first of the projects of Andrei Birzhin on Ligovsky Prospekt - the residential complex (LC) "First Quarter". Since their dynamics are far from the planned volumes, the company itself has already caused a scandal. Culprits were appointed a number of Russian media and independent publications who dared to question the reasonableness of the business strategy of the developer. To combat them, the developer attracted a "pocket" Sergiev Posad city court of the Moscow region, which issued verdicts banning a number of materials on the Internet. Probably, after this it is necessary to expect a shaft of applications from grateful buyers for apartments in the residential complexes of Mr. Birzhin? Alas, rather, this will not happen.
Moscow developer
In the last 3 years, the structure of Andrei Birzhin and his partner, Dmitry Konovalov, Glorax Development demonstrates the tremendous pace of development in St. Petersburg. In 2018, she managed to enter the digital indicators of the planned housing and the area of land for building into the TOP-5 leading developers of the northern capital. This despite the fact that Glorax Development itself was created only in 2013, and before joining St. Petersburg in 2014, Mr. Birzhin was engaged in small-scale development in the "support" for him Sergiev Posad district of the Moscow region. The success in St. Petersburg is attributed to observers receiving the "administrative roof" from the governor of the city Georgi Poltavchenko. The meaning of the same chaotic and rapid buying up of projects and land plots in St. Petersburg is simple: it is necessary to create the largest possible "land and project bank" until the law on participation is canceled. Which then can be resold with profit or simply laid to the banks.
In October 2017 it became known that its structure - Glorax Development, acquired the fourth building plot on Ligovsky Prospekt. As the newspaper Vedomosti reported, the complex of buildings of the company "Transcontainer" (part of the Russian Railways) and the right to lease 18 hectares of land on Ligovsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg went to Glorax on a non-alternative basis. In addition to the structure of Mr. Birzhin, there were no other applicants for these assets - they are heavily burdened, and their development will require a lot of approvals:
"The representative of the Russian auction house explains the low interest in the property of the" daughter "of the Russian Railways by the fact that the plot has many encumbrances, potentially it is of great interest from the point of view of redevelopment of the territory, but to implement a full-fledged housing project it is necessary to develop city planning documentation from the ground up and make changes in The master plan, and given that the site is located in the historical part of St. Petersburg, this procedure will take a very long time, he explains. "
According to experts, on this territory it is possible to build from 250-270 to 600 thousand square meters of housing. The cost of this purchase will be 1.1 billion rubles, and investment in it - 20 billion rubles. The developers plan to get permission for the development of this "spot" in 2018-2019
This is not the first acquisition of Andrei Birzhin and his partner in Glorax Development Dmitry Konovalov in St. Petersburg. So at the end of September, Glorax Development closed the deal to buy a 1.6-hectare site on Tosina Street. More than 40,000 square meters of residential and commercial premises will be built here. Exit to the construction site is scheduled for the IV quarter of 2018.
In the neighborhood with them, the company already has two sites for two residential complexes of business class with commercial premises and underground parking. This LCD "First Quarter" on a 2.8-hectare site on Ligovsky Prospect 271 (the total area of the project will exceed 106,000 square meters). And also LCD "The second quarter" on Ligovsky prospect 232 on a site in 2,4 hectares (the total area of the real estate will make more than 80 000 square meters).
All these projects in Glorax Development were patronized under the Ligovsky City brand, announced about 40 billion rubles of investments in it and the desire to "break the gray belt of St. Petersburg":
- Ligovsky City - a pilot project to transform the "gray belt" of St. Petersburg. I am confident that we will be able to fully implement this ambitious plan and provide the inhabitants of the city with a fundamentally new space. One of the main tasks of Glorax Development is to create a multifunctional, diverse and rich environment suitable for life, work, recreation and creativity, - ambitiously stated the head of Glorax Group Andrei Birzhin.
Do not tear your pants
The reconstruction of Ligovsky Prospekt is far from the only mega-project of the young company Glorax Development in St. Petersburg. For example, the company has a Golden City business class LCD project on the alluvial territories of the Vasilievsky Island. There on the area of 15 hectares will be built 6 residential quarters-rabbit-henchmen with a total area of 450 thousand square meters! Investments in the project, according to Dmitry Konovalov, will amount to no less than 30 billion rubles (more than $ 500 million).
In addition to this pathos project, Glorax has smaller, but not more profitable projects. Some of them generate hundreds of millions of rubles in losses. This received in 2015 in the "legacy" of the bankrupt company "Chesma-invest" two problem residential complex with a total area of 53 thousand square meters. This LCD "Twin House" for 247 apartments, of which only 40% will go on sale, the rest will go to deceived co-investors (the complex will be ready in 2018), as well as the Main House LCD for 403 apartments. The term of its commissioning is 2019 (at best). In addition to these "assets", Andrei Birzhin received a load of LCD "Sherlock House", which previously unsuccessfully since 2000, engaged in "Chesma-invest" and PSM "Classic". The cost of these projects collectively pulls to 3.5 billion rubles, and the loss from them - by 300 million rubles, according to Mr. Konovalov.
The only project that generates at least some financial stream in St. Petersburg from Birzhin and Konovalov is the English Mile. Recall that in 2014, Glorax Development acquired the St. Petersburg company Baltprodcom together with a plot of 20 hectares in the Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg. It already built a residential complex "English Mile" for 220 thousand square meters on the Peterhof highway. In the middle of 2017, the first stage of the complex was put into operation, where almost all apartments were sold, and in both buildings of the second stage of this residential complex, 450 apartments (two-thirds of the total number) remained unsold. Apartments are sold slowly enough, and in July 2017 the company even had to promise customers 7 square meters for free in case of a complete purchase.
And that's all, except that the structures of Birzhin are being built in the Moscow region of Khotkovo, 60 kilometers from Moscow, a residential complex of the economy class "Olympus" with a total area of almost 60,000 square meters for 2 billion rubles. Sales of apartments in this complex, which will be finalized at the end of 2018, are rather sluggish.
Simply put, the company is already not doing well with finances. Evidence of an acute shortage of free cash from Birzhin and his companions was the attempt to sell them near Moscow company "Mosavtodor and Partners", engaged in "bread" business - the construction of bridges and roads. This became known as early as April 2017 and so far the deal has not taken place.
The question arises: where did Andrei Birzhin and Dmitry Konovalov take a half billion dollars to complete all their projects in St. Petersburg (assuming at least some real thing)?
What is your experience?
Glorax Development is a newcomer to the development market in Russia and it is still unclear to anyone from where it has money at all. It is believed that this company, as well as the "parent" Glorax Group in 2013, was founded by a native of the Tekta group (a medium-sized Russian development company operating in the Moscow region) Andrei Birzhin. And immediately promised to invest a billion dollars in projects in the field of residential real estate, $ 870 million in the creation of an international hotel chain, as well as more than 3 billion rubles in the creation of its own network of fitness salons. As it is not difficult to guess, the founding fathers Glorax have long been silent about investing in hotels and fitness centers. There is nothing to boast about, except for the pathos and screaming statements behind this shaking of the air is nothing.
Andrei Birzhin himself worked in the Moscow region development until 2013, and the center of his activity was in a tiny town near Moscow Khotkovo. Now the "kid's fellow" with invented billions of dollars, but an obvious administrative resource, is storming the market of the northern capital of Russia. Will not he tear his pants?
The Gray Hell on Ligovka
If you look closely at the already published characteristics of the first two residential complexes from Glorax Development on Ligovsky Prospekt, it becomes clear that prospective buyers are vomited wretched, cheap and low-grade housing. Under rulad about the "rupture of the gray belt."
LCD "First Quarter" will combine several monolithic buildings up to 13 floors. On a plot of 28,077 square meters there will be 106,000 square meters of real estate. This is approximately 1200-odd apartments in four residential buildings with a height of 10-11 floors (thanks to not 18 floors). However, immediately ambush - underground parking is designed only for 816 cars and free, of course, is not. Where will park the rest of the cars - no one knows. The developer does not care. Prices for such real estate by today's standards can hardly be called democratic. The minimum price per square meter is 85,000 rubles. So, "odnushka" area of 24.5 square meters will cost 2 523 500 rubles, and "kopeck piece" with an area of 57 square meters - in 5 105 080 rubles. The most expensive lot is a two-bedroom apartment with an area of 99.7 square meters on the 11th floor of the complex. This "magnificence" costs 9,249,957 rubles. From the infrastructure, the developer generously promises to make an underground parking, a fitness center, a kindergarten for 75 places. This is with a total population of the complex of almost 5 thousand people!
What about the location of the project? He is in the "gray", industrial zone of St. Petersburg. There is practically no greens. At 50-60 meters from the residential complex - rustling and buzzing lively Ligovsky Prospekt. Metro "Borovaya" next to the LCD promise to open in 2025 (that is, never). Now to the existing stations "Obvodny Canal", "Frunzenskaya" and "Volkovskaya" - 20-30 minutes on foot. So the future inhabitants of the complex, which will have nowhere to park their car, will have to train in jogging to the subway.
All sweet as treacle and false speech of developers from their prospectuses should be thrown out without any pity for trash. No one will build this here (for these are additional gigantic costs that are not repulsed in any way):
"Industrial zone" Volkovskaya "will turn into a kind of" city in the city "with its residential buildings, business centers, parks, shops, schools and kindergartens .The large-scale project Ligovsky City will unite several locations in the Frunzensky district and offer future residents a comfortable environment with developed social and business infrastructure, residential areas with business-class complexes and recreation areas.As a matter of fact, the new complex "tears" the large-scale "gray belt" that stretches along Ligovsky Prospekt. "
That is, Birzhin and Konovalov are preparing ordinary high-rise rabbit houses in St. Petersburg with the very minimum of social infrastructure and practically without gardening. Let's speak without bluntness.
What's the point?
It turns out that a dull Moscow region company of inexperienced developers without enough financial resources grabs pieces of Petersburg land, draws the sky in rainbow colors, to ... Correctly, to attract under its land assets, bank financing, go to the pit and begin selling apartments (before the introduction of changes in the legislation on shared construction in Russia). And then ... How lucky. The economy in Russia will be adjusted, buyers will go by a jamb - it is possible and to complete objects. Oil will not grow to $ 100-120 per barrel, the "chymander" will not "grin" - it means that the projects will have to be frozen because of the lack of buyers, and the funds will be taken offshore. Banks in the losers will not remain, they will receive their pledges in the form of land plots. And those individuals who will buy apartments from Glorax Development in residential complexes under construction will lose.
How realistic is the forecast that the cunning Birzhin and Konovalov will not be able to collect a sufficient number of buyers? More than - already now in the northern capital of the primary housing market is openly overstocked.
- I have a feeling (I can not yet confirm it with figures, since this is a very laborious study), that effective demand, although it is large enough, ceases to suffice. For every single project, there are fewer and fewer buyers. Accordingly, developers do not have enough money to calmly and comfortably finance the construction, - says Nikolai Pashkov, General Director of Knight Frank Saint Petersburg.
In his opinion, there is still no real crisis in development in Russia. There are only lightning flashes and a rumble of thunder on the horizon. The storm will come a little later. Pashkov gloomily predicts that in the next few years a huge amount of primary housing will be thrown into the market in St. Petersburg, which will act depressingly and are already volatile in the direction of reducing prices. This is not to mention whether the population will have the money to buy the next "innovative" rabbitries?
Moscow developer
In the last 3 years, the structure of Andrei Birzhin and his partner, Dmitry Konovalov, Glorax Development demonstrates the tremendous pace of development in St. Petersburg. In 2018, she managed to enter the digital indicators of the planned housing and the area of land for building into the TOP-5 leading developers of the northern capital. This despite the fact that Glorax Development itself was created only in 2013, and before joining St. Petersburg in 2014, Mr. Birzhin was engaged in small-scale development in the "support" for him Sergiev Posad district of the Moscow region. The success in St. Petersburg is attributed to observers receiving the "administrative roof" from the governor of the city Georgi Poltavchenko. The meaning of the same chaotic and rapid buying up of projects and land plots in St. Petersburg is simple: it is necessary to create the largest possible "land and project bank" until the law on participation is canceled. Which then can be resold with profit or simply laid to the banks.
In October 2017 it became known that its structure - Glorax Development, acquired the fourth building plot on Ligovsky Prospekt. As the newspaper Vedomosti reported, the complex of buildings of the company "Transcontainer" (part of the Russian Railways) and the right to lease 18 hectares of land on Ligovsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg went to Glorax on a non-alternative basis. In addition to the structure of Mr. Birzhin, there were no other applicants for these assets - they are heavily burdened, and their development will require a lot of approvals:
"The representative of the Russian auction house explains the low interest in the property of the" daughter "of the Russian Railways by the fact that the plot has many encumbrances, potentially it is of great interest from the point of view of redevelopment of the territory, but to implement a full-fledged housing project it is necessary to develop city planning documentation from the ground up and make changes in The master plan, and given that the site is located in the historical part of St. Petersburg, this procedure will take a very long time, he explains. "
According to experts, on this territory it is possible to build from 250-270 to 600 thousand square meters of housing. The cost of this purchase will be 1.1 billion rubles, and investment in it - 20 billion rubles. The developers plan to get permission for the development of this "spot" in 2018-2019
This is not the first acquisition of Andrei Birzhin and his partner in Glorax Development Dmitry Konovalov in St. Petersburg. So at the end of September, Glorax Development closed the deal to buy a 1.6-hectare site on Tosina Street. More than 40,000 square meters of residential and commercial premises will be built here. Exit to the construction site is scheduled for the IV quarter of 2018.
In the neighborhood with them, the company already has two sites for two residential complexes of business class with commercial premises and underground parking. This LCD "First Quarter" on a 2.8-hectare site on Ligovsky Prospect 271 (the total area of the project will exceed 106,000 square meters). And also LCD "The second quarter" on Ligovsky prospect 232 on a site in 2,4 hectares (the total area of the real estate will make more than 80 000 square meters).
All these projects in Glorax Development were patronized under the Ligovsky City brand, announced about 40 billion rubles of investments in it and the desire to "break the gray belt of St. Petersburg":
- Ligovsky City - a pilot project to transform the "gray belt" of St. Petersburg. I am confident that we will be able to fully implement this ambitious plan and provide the inhabitants of the city with a fundamentally new space. One of the main tasks of Glorax Development is to create a multifunctional, diverse and rich environment suitable for life, work, recreation and creativity, - ambitiously stated the head of Glorax Group Andrei Birzhin.
Do not tear your pants
The reconstruction of Ligovsky Prospekt is far from the only mega-project of the young company Glorax Development in St. Petersburg. For example, the company has a Golden City business class LCD project on the alluvial territories of the Vasilievsky Island. There on the area of 15 hectares will be built 6 residential quarters-rabbit-henchmen with a total area of 450 thousand square meters! Investments in the project, according to Dmitry Konovalov, will amount to no less than 30 billion rubles (more than $ 500 million).
In addition to this pathos project, Glorax has smaller, but not more profitable projects. Some of them generate hundreds of millions of rubles in losses. This received in 2015 in the "legacy" of the bankrupt company "Chesma-invest" two problem residential complex with a total area of 53 thousand square meters. This LCD "Twin House" for 247 apartments, of which only 40% will go on sale, the rest will go to deceived co-investors (the complex will be ready in 2018), as well as the Main House LCD for 403 apartments. The term of its commissioning is 2019 (at best). In addition to these "assets", Andrei Birzhin received a load of LCD "Sherlock House", which previously unsuccessfully since 2000, engaged in "Chesma-invest" and PSM "Classic". The cost of these projects collectively pulls to 3.5 billion rubles, and the loss from them - by 300 million rubles, according to Mr. Konovalov.
The only project that generates at least some financial stream in St. Petersburg from Birzhin and Konovalov is the English Mile. Recall that in 2014, Glorax Development acquired the St. Petersburg company Baltprodcom together with a plot of 20 hectares in the Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg. It already built a residential complex "English Mile" for 220 thousand square meters on the Peterhof highway. In the middle of 2017, the first stage of the complex was put into operation, where almost all apartments were sold, and in both buildings of the second stage of this residential complex, 450 apartments (two-thirds of the total number) remained unsold. Apartments are sold slowly enough, and in July 2017 the company even had to promise customers 7 square meters for free in case of a complete purchase.
And that's all, except that the structures of Birzhin are being built in the Moscow region of Khotkovo, 60 kilometers from Moscow, a residential complex of the economy class "Olympus" with a total area of almost 60,000 square meters for 2 billion rubles. Sales of apartments in this complex, which will be finalized at the end of 2018, are rather sluggish.
Simply put, the company is already not doing well with finances. Evidence of an acute shortage of free cash from Birzhin and his companions was the attempt to sell them near Moscow company "Mosavtodor and Partners", engaged in "bread" business - the construction of bridges and roads. This became known as early as April 2017 and so far the deal has not taken place.
The question arises: where did Andrei Birzhin and Dmitry Konovalov take a half billion dollars to complete all their projects in St. Petersburg (assuming at least some real thing)?
What is your experience?
Glorax Development is a newcomer to the development market in Russia and it is still unclear to anyone from where it has money at all. It is believed that this company, as well as the "parent" Glorax Group in 2013, was founded by a native of the Tekta group (a medium-sized Russian development company operating in the Moscow region) Andrei Birzhin. And immediately promised to invest a billion dollars in projects in the field of residential real estate, $ 870 million in the creation of an international hotel chain, as well as more than 3 billion rubles in the creation of its own network of fitness salons. As it is not difficult to guess, the founding fathers Glorax have long been silent about investing in hotels and fitness centers. There is nothing to boast about, except for the pathos and screaming statements behind this shaking of the air is nothing.
Andrei Birzhin himself worked in the Moscow region development until 2013, and the center of his activity was in a tiny town near Moscow Khotkovo. Now the "kid's fellow" with invented billions of dollars, but an obvious administrative resource, is storming the market of the northern capital of Russia. Will not he tear his pants?
The Gray Hell on Ligovka
If you look closely at the already published characteristics of the first two residential complexes from Glorax Development on Ligovsky Prospekt, it becomes clear that prospective buyers are vomited wretched, cheap and low-grade housing. Under rulad about the "rupture of the gray belt."
LCD "First Quarter" will combine several monolithic buildings up to 13 floors. On a plot of 28,077 square meters there will be 106,000 square meters of real estate. This is approximately 1200-odd apartments in four residential buildings with a height of 10-11 floors (thanks to not 18 floors). However, immediately ambush - underground parking is designed only for 816 cars and free, of course, is not. Where will park the rest of the cars - no one knows. The developer does not care. Prices for such real estate by today's standards can hardly be called democratic. The minimum price per square meter is 85,000 rubles. So, "odnushka" area of 24.5 square meters will cost 2 523 500 rubles, and "kopeck piece" with an area of 57 square meters - in 5 105 080 rubles. The most expensive lot is a two-bedroom apartment with an area of 99.7 square meters on the 11th floor of the complex. This "magnificence" costs 9,249,957 rubles. From the infrastructure, the developer generously promises to make an underground parking, a fitness center, a kindergarten for 75 places. This is with a total population of the complex of almost 5 thousand people!
What about the location of the project? He is in the "gray", industrial zone of St. Petersburg. There is practically no greens. At 50-60 meters from the residential complex - rustling and buzzing lively Ligovsky Prospekt. Metro "Borovaya" next to the LCD promise to open in 2025 (that is, never). Now to the existing stations "Obvodny Canal", "Frunzenskaya" and "Volkovskaya" - 20-30 minutes on foot. So the future inhabitants of the complex, which will have nowhere to park their car, will have to train in jogging to the subway.
All sweet as treacle and false speech of developers from their prospectuses should be thrown out without any pity for trash. No one will build this here (for these are additional gigantic costs that are not repulsed in any way):
"Industrial zone" Volkovskaya "will turn into a kind of" city in the city "with its residential buildings, business centers, parks, shops, schools and kindergartens .The large-scale project Ligovsky City will unite several locations in the Frunzensky district and offer future residents a comfortable environment with developed social and business infrastructure, residential areas with business-class complexes and recreation areas.As a matter of fact, the new complex "tears" the large-scale "gray belt" that stretches along Ligovsky Prospekt. "
That is, Birzhin and Konovalov are preparing ordinary high-rise rabbit houses in St. Petersburg with the very minimum of social infrastructure and practically without gardening. Let's speak without bluntness.
What's the point?
It turns out that a dull Moscow region company of inexperienced developers without enough financial resources grabs pieces of Petersburg land, draws the sky in rainbow colors, to ... Correctly, to attract under its land assets, bank financing, go to the pit and begin selling apartments (before the introduction of changes in the legislation on shared construction in Russia). And then ... How lucky. The economy in Russia will be adjusted, buyers will go by a jamb - it is possible and to complete objects. Oil will not grow to $ 100-120 per barrel, the "chymander" will not "grin" - it means that the projects will have to be frozen because of the lack of buyers, and the funds will be taken offshore. Banks in the losers will not remain, they will receive their pledges in the form of land plots. And those individuals who will buy apartments from Glorax Development in residential complexes under construction will lose.
How realistic is the forecast that the cunning Birzhin and Konovalov will not be able to collect a sufficient number of buyers? More than - already now in the northern capital of the primary housing market is openly overstocked.
- I have a feeling (I can not yet confirm it with figures, since this is a very laborious study), that effective demand, although it is large enough, ceases to suffice. For every single project, there are fewer and fewer buyers. Accordingly, developers do not have enough money to calmly and comfortably finance the construction, - says Nikolai Pashkov, General Director of Knight Frank Saint Petersburg.
In his opinion, there is still no real crisis in development in Russia. There are only lightning flashes and a rumble of thunder on the horizon. The storm will come a little later. Pashkov gloomily predicts that in the next few years a huge amount of primary housing will be thrown into the market in St. Petersburg, which will act depressingly and are already volatile in the direction of reducing prices. This is not to mention whether the population will have the money to buy the next "innovative" rabbitries?
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