Herman Gref rescues a failing developer Leonid Kazints with loans

Sberbank will allocate 2.5 billion rubles "Barkley" for the completion of the scandalous LCD "Honey Valley" in New Moscow.
Sberbank opened the construction company "Barkley" credit line at 2.45 billion rubles. The funds will be used to finance the construction of the residential complex “Honey Valley” in Krekshin (new Moscow), a company representative told Vedomosti.

The information was confirmed to Vedomosti by a spokesman for the Sberbank. According to him, a loan of 2.45 billion rubles. issued for 45 months. The representative of the press service also clarified that Sberbank already has experience of cooperation with the developer: the bank has been cooperating with the Barkley Group of Companies since 2015 (for the Honey Valley project - Vedomosti's note). Earlier, Sberbank financed two projects of the company, there were no problems with debt servicing, a bank spokesman said.

The loan rate will be 10.5% per annum, said a company representative. He also said that the company will send a loan to complete the second and third phases (each in three buildings) of the residential project “Honey Valley”, the construction of which is now delayed.

 
What are the problems of "Honey Valley"

In “Honey Valley” there really were difficulties, because of which the deadlines for putting the object were repeatedly disrupted, which caused not only the indignation of real estate investors, but also the complaints of the authorities. The first stage of the project was to be completed before June 30, 2017, but passed only in March 2018. At the same time, parts of the second and third building share holders have not yet been transferred to the apartment - finishing works are being finished in them. "The keys will be transferred in the current quarter," - said the company. In total, in the first stage of the project, the company entered into 664 equity agreements (PDU).

The deadlines for the second and third phases of Honey Valley are also postponed. According to the project declaration of the company, the second stage is planned to be completed in September 2019 (earlier - in December 2018), the third - in June 2020 (earlier - in December 2019).

In the second stage, residential houses are at the stage of building a monolithic reinforced concrete frame at the level of the 5th – 7th floor, the degree of readiness of the monolith in three buildings is 72%. In the third stage, preparatory work and construction of on-site engineering networks are underway. Proceed to the main work is planned in October.

The delay in construction in the company was explained by the change of contractors (contracts with new contracting organizations have already been concluded) and communication problems that arose due to the delay in obtaining permits. Since September, the company has begun to design networks of water supply, sewage, drainage, heating network for the kindergarten (included in the LCD project). The construction of these networks has been completed by 70%, and by the end of the month the work will be fully completed, the source told the company. He clarified that "the start of engineering work for the second and third phases was impossible without opening a warrant for the right to carry out excavation work." Now all the necessary documents have been received.

Most construction projects for residential projects are delayed for two reasons: this is the bankruptcy of important contractors, general contractors and the late issuance of permits by government agencies, which delay communication connection times, says Maria Litinetskaya, managing partner of Metrium.

 
Deceived co-investors will not be

The company is confident that all obligations to the share holders of the project in Krekshina will be fully fulfilled. Total for the second and third stages of the company concluded about 1000 DDU.

“According to the developer, the volume of investment in the residential complex“ Honey Valley ”should be about 7.5 billion rubles. The project includes nine buildings, three of which have been commissioned, three are in the middle stage of construction readiness, two more are in the initial stage, and one is not being built yet. Considering the declared volume of construction, 2.5 billion rubles. just enough to complete the remaining houses, "- says Litinetskaya.

“When the project was just launched, he drew attention primarily in the name of the developer, a company with an excellent reputation in the elite real estate segment. Perhaps, in some ways, the company did not have enough experience in working with housing of mass demand, ”says Irina Dobrokhotova, chairman of the board of directors of Best-Novostroy. She also agrees that, in view of the work already completed at the facility, money from Sberbank should be enough to complete the entire project.

In general, market participants rate Honey Valley as a “successful project”. “Despite the affordable prices from 2.3 million rubles., The project complies with the characteristics of comfort-class. More than 50 variants of planning decisions, including studios and apartments of an euroformat, housing with designer furnish, yards without cars, quarter building, author's architecture, ”says Litinetskaya.

“Even such a minus, as a fairly significant distance from the Moscow Ring Road (compared to Kommunarka, Rasskazka, Salaryev), was leveled by the presence of the Krekshino railway platform within walking distance. This gave the project a good competitive advantage, ”adds Dobrokhotova.


However, she notes that the pace of sales of apartments in the project over the past year is “insufficient”. “In total, the project sold more than half of the volume (including transactions of individuals and legal entities). The two buildings that started first and have already been handed over are almost completely sold out - there are only a few three-room apartments left. About 10–15% of lots were sold in cases on the zero cycle. The current sales rates over the past year are not critical, but insufficient - in the first half of 2018, Honey Valley did not enter the top 10 most actively sold residential complexes in the new Moscow, ”says Dobrokhotova.

According to Litinetskaya, sales at Honey Valley this year averaged 50 apartments per month (with the exception of September). “Of course, in the new buildings of Moscow located near the metro, more than 100 lots are sold monthly. However, we must understand that this is a completely different product (medium-rise project) and transport accessibility, ”she concludes.