Moscow's new malls stand half empty as convenience stores grow

Photo: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The average rate of vacant space in shopping centers in Moscow in the first quarter amounted to 11% - this is 560 thousand square meters. m GLA (leasable space), calculated by the specialists of the brokerage and consulting company Magazin Magazin. By the end of the year, they predict an increase in the level of vacant premises in the shopping center of the capital to 12-14%.

Dynamics of the filling rate of the areas of the largest shopping centers in Moscow, opened since 2014 (Photo: Shop Store)

At the same time, many of the shopping centers commissioned over the past year are half empty. “On average, about half of the areas in shopping centers that have been opened since the beginning of 2014 are not working at the time of commissioning,” the analytical review of Magazin Magazin says. — An indicator that was difficult to perceive in mid-2014 due to turbulence in retail market has now become the norm." If earlier in the forecasts of developers at the time of the opening of shopping centers, tenants had to occupy at least 80-90%, now the bar has been lowered to 60-70%.

The level of vacant premises at the time of commissioning in some complexes reaches 94%, as in the Columbus shopping center. Although there are centers where not so many areas remained unfilled at the opening. In particular, the Vesna shopping center, where only 8% of stores were empty.

However, in a crisis, according to consultants, a more relevant indicator of the relative success of the shopping center is the dynamics of its occupancy. “Almost all centers open with a large proportion of non-working stores,” explains Andrey Vasyutkin, head of research and consulting at Magazin Magazin. — In our opinion, it is also important to evaluate how quickly outlets open in these facilities after they open. In some shopping centers, for example, Columbus, tenants are starting to open their outlets quite quickly, while in others, like Mozaika, they are not very active.”

The Columbus shopping center has become the absolute leader in terms of the rate of absorption of space - in a month and a half after the opening, new tenants occupied 38.6 thousand square meters. m. In March, the share of empty space in the shopping center was already 67%. Good dynamics, according to Magazin Shops, was demonstrated by the Aviapark shopping and entertainment center and Vegas Crocus City.

Shopping centers opened in Moscow since 2014

name of the property			Developer	Entry date
Air fleet			AMMA Development
Vegas Crocus City			Crocus International
			"OST-group"
Kuntsevo Plaza
			Central Properties
			IMMOFINANZ Group
Central Children's Store on the Lubyanka			"Hals Development"
			"Daria-ST"
Moskvorechye			"Garant-Invest"
Outlet Village Belaya Dacha, 2nd stage
Otrada, 3rd stage			"Elt"
			Christina NVN
OrangePark			City & Malls PFM
			"Union"

Convenience stores

The popularity of shopping centers is indirectly affected by the growing popularity of convenience stores, which are actively opened in Moscow by chain retailers. This leads to a partial outflow of buyers from large hypermarkets, which are anchor tenants in shopping centers.

According to the international consulting company Knight Frank, over the past ten years the number of grocery chains in the Moscow market has grown from 21 to 48. Total chain grocery stores for the period under review increased by 3.2 times and as of April 1, 2015 amounted to more than 2.1 thousand. The total retail area exceeds 2.3 million square meters. m. On average, in Moscow for 1 square. m of retail space accounts for about 5 residents, for comparison: in 2005, per 1 sq. m accounted for 9 people.

The largest growth in the number of stores was shown by the Pyaterochka, Dixy and Magnit chains. In addition, new grocery store formats have emerged over the past decade. In particular, retail operators began to pay more attention to the development of small format stores, as well as "discounters".

Yes, X5 Retail Group actively develops Perekrestok Express convenience stores and Pyaterochka discounters, the French retailer Auchan, the Atak discounter network. The market was replenished with new networks, among them there are both international and regional Russian operators. Regional chains are represented by such supermarkets as Bahetle (Tatarstan), Magnit (Krasnodar Territory), O'KEY (St. Petersburg), Lenta (St. Petersburg) and others. International operators include Globus and Selgros Cash&Carry.

According to Olga Yasko, Director of the Analytics Department at Knight Frank Russia & CIS, different food retail formats still have great potential for development. “Many districts of the capital, especially the peripheral ones, where massive residential development is underway, are still poorly provided with grocery stores,” she said.

Vladimir Mironov

27.11.2013 24772

When renting space in the next shopping center, the tenant wants to be sure that his hopes for profit will not be in vain. Of course, traffic and the number of tenants play an important role, but the main condition for a successful shopping center is a quality concept. Andrey Shuvalov, senior director of retail real estate at Cushman & Wakefield, spoke about what it is and what it consists of during an open lecture "Concepts of Shopping Centers".

Recipe for Success

The shopping center concept is not just a planning decision, it is a clear commercial idea of ​​the future shopping complex. The concept allows you to determine which complex can be built in a given location in order to bring the owner the maximum income in the long term, taking into account the volatile competitive environment. It includes both technical indicators such as the optimal area for a particular retail area, the width of shop windows and the ratio between anchor tenants and small stores, as well as qualitative ones - recommendations on the composition of tenants, assortment matrix, architectural appearance and style of the object. But this is not the only thing that matters: a shopping center should create an environment thought out to the smallest detail with its own character. This is expressed in details, so the name, the interior lighting, the design and the organization of the space matter.

The profitability of a shopping center strongly depends on the fact that its managers have specific knowledge in the field of retail real estate, on how effective the current marketing of the object is. We must not forget that the tenants of the shopping center have the right to unilaterally terminate the lease agreement if they consider that the facility is poorly visited or poorly managed. Therefore, no sane entrepreneur will rely solely on personal experience and build a shopping center on their own. In addition, cooperation with consultants allows you to keep abreast of the latest trends and moods of tenants, because their immediate task is to keep abreast of the market. For example, consultants know that if earlier Mediamarkt rented space of at least 5,000 sq. m, today he lowered the lower bar to 3,800 sq. m, Auchan reduced the requirements from 19 to 10-12 thousand, clothing segment operators - from 1,800 to 1,200 sq. m.

Components of a quality shopping center

A significant part of the space around the shopping center should be occupied by parking, the effectiveness of which is assessed by a special coefficient, taking into account the location of the shopping center. A good coefficient of provision of shopping centers with parking spaces is 2 if commercial facility located in the city center, and 4 - if the shopping center is built outside the city and has an anchor grocery hypermarket. This difference is explained by the fact that the bulk of the flow of visitors to the city shopping center can use public transport. For example, the shopping center "Gallery" in St. Petersburg has a coefficient of 1.35, but this does not mean that the object is poorly provided with parking spaces, because the main flow of buyers comes from the metro.

Another important parameter in the quality concept of the shopping center is area efficiency. It is defined as the ratio of leasable area (GLA) to gross area (GBA). One hundred percent efficiency cannot be: for a large shopping center, which is considered an object with a GLA of 50 thousand square meters. m, the efficiency of the area can be up to 80%, for the average - 70%, for the small - 67%. Such a strange decrease is explained by the scale effect: in small shopping centers, a lot of space is occupied by public and technical areas, which greatly affects the total amount of usable space. Owners of small shopping centers can increase the efficiency ratio by placing shopping kiosks in the corridors and changing the format of shopping galleries. Thus, they increase the rental area and, accordingly, the income from its delivery. However, it is infinitely impossible to increase the efficiency for profit: the premises vacated in the main shopping galleries will be occupied by anchor tenants, whose rent rate is five times lower, and the shopping center will begin to lose money.

The ratio of anchor tenants, which include operators with an area of ​​more than 1,000 sq.m., and other stores is another secret to the success of a quality concept. The rule here is simple: the larger the shopping center, the more anchors it should have. In addition, if the shopping center is located in the area of ​​a large pedestrian flow, the "anchors" should account for 30-40% of the leasable area. If the object is built outside of large pedestrian flows, then in order to create a center of attraction for buyers, at least 60% must be given to anchors. A good example: the Auchan hypermarket is able to create a flow of 35,000 people a day. The rental rate for it will not be high, but smaller tenants will be able to get more visitors, and the overall synergy will lead to an increase in rental income. If the shopping center is located in the central part of the city or near the metro, then the presence of such a tenant as Auchan is no longer fundamentally important: there is a flow of visitors created in a natural way. All that remains for the owner of the shopping center to do is to place a certain number of high-quality "anchors" from the fashion segment.

In order for the shopping center to meet the requirements of tenants, a certain height of the complex is required. It is believed that multi-storey shopping centers are not very efficient, because the attendance of the upper floors is much less than the first: if we take the first floor as 100%, then the attendance of the second will be 90%, and the third - already 70%. As for the height of each floor, for operators operating in the mass market and the middle price segment, the minimum height of the room from ceiling to floor should be 3.5 meters, in the medium-high price segment - 4 meters "clean". With hypermarkets and cinemas, the situation is, of course, a little different: in the first case, due to the rack storage system, the height of the room should be from 6 to 7.5 meters, and in the second - from 8 to 11 meters for halls with 100 and 300 seats, respectively.

A specific area requiring attention is the mall's food court. Now there is a trend towards an increase in the share of public catering in shopping center projects, and this is typical for the whole of Russia. In high-quality shopping centers, popular catering establishments are well-known at the federal level, and there is enough seating area for the customers of each of them. Experts recommend regional shopping malls do not neglect federal brands, since any new shopping center with at least one of them will be a significant competitor of local brands.

Finally, one of the most important elements in the mall is the central atrium. While in it, visitors must have good review and see shops on other floors, because this is a guarantee of attendance on the upper floors. The minimum width of the atrium should be 5-6 meters, the width of the balcony - 3-4 meters. In addition, there should be space above the heads of visitors on the first floor: the high dome creates a sense of wonder, something that goes beyond everyday life, and this affects the mood of visitors.

Concept accents

The task of the developers of the concept of the shopping center is not only to take into account all technical features, site configuration, make zoning and calculate customer flows. You need to have a broad vision, including in terms of architecture. For example, it is not necessary to follow the classic path of new construction - sometimes you can use what is already available. For example, you can “fit” a new building into an existing one: cover the space between the buildings with a glass dome to create an internal volume with a separate entrance. Also, in the face of growing competition, it is very important to come up with an idea, a feature, something that would distinguish the project from the many available on the market. Sometimes the highlight can be the design of the shopping center. An example is the unique OZ mall near Krasnodar, which is one of the largest in Europe (GLA 164,000 sqm). It has a unique futuristic design: the building with smooth, streamlined shapes resembles a giant spaceship. However, spectacular appearance does not yet mean that the object will not have bottlenecks. Some experts note that the disadvantage of OZ mall is the lack of a ring scheme, which is why the flow of visitors is divided into parts, and each wing works "for itself". The situation is also aggravated by the fact that the anchor hypermarket of this shopping center - O'Key - is located in a separate wing, and its customer flows do not mix with the general traffic of the shopping center.

Besides outstanding design, there are other ways to compete in the retail real estate market, such as offering a different pool of tenants. You don't have to look far for an example: in Moscow, a new retail facility is being built near the European shopping center. It would seem that head-to-head competition does not mean anything good, but the leased area of ​​Evropeisky is only 6 thousand square meters. m., so if you wish, you can fill the new facility with tenants who are not there. The result is an interesting synergistic effect.

AT recent times among the shopping centers of the new generation there are many non-standard projects. These include the Mitino-Park project, where a big bias is made towards creating conditions for quality recreation and pastime. At first, they wanted to invite the Spar hypermarket as an anchor tenant to the project, but then it was decided that the facility needed a more original food concept. As a result, a so-called “fresh market” was created in Mitino Park with an unusual layout, where shops with farm products, fresh food and other joys of home cooking are located. It is curious that thanks to this decision, international brands began to consider the project, which is quite unexpected for a shopping center on the outskirts of Moscow.

One of the latest trends in the search for diversity in the shopping center is the interest in children's and cultural entertainment. Panic rooms, huge aquariums, theaters, museums and even libraries are being actively designed in the planned facilities. However, experts recommend not to exaggerate the importance of these components: the problem is that consumers visit such entertainment mostly only once, while people return to the traditional cinema again and again. So we can say that the recipe for an ideal shopping center has long been found: a good location, pedestrian and transport accessibility, the absence of competitors with a similar concept in the immediate vicinity, a high-quality selection of retail operators, restaurants and comfortable cinema halls. All this already provides a high interest of visitors and optimal profitability of the object.

When renting space in the next shopping center, the tenant wants to be sure that his hopes for profit will not be in vain. Of course, traffic and a set of tenants play an important role, but the main…

November 11, 2014, 23:49

Over the past few months, the German automaker Mercedes-Benz has been conducting various surveys and marketing research, which resulted in the introduction of a new naming system across the entire model range. Changes to traditional indices will begin from the new year 2015.

Although the goal of this transformation is to simplify the logic behind the names of new models and make it easier for buyers to understand these indexes, it takes some time to figure out all the intricacies of this idea from Stuttgart. We will try to clearly explain what has changed and what the manufacturer is now guided by when naming their cars one way or another.

How it works?

The new name structure encrypts both the series to which the model belongs and the type of engine.

The model name (or "Class" index) is always an abbreviation containing one to three capital letters. In total, Mercedes has five main models (Classes): A, B, C, E and S.

The engine type is indicated at the end of the name with one lowercase letter:

• "c" - compressed natural gas;
• "d" - diesel (replaces the BlueTEC and CDI emblems);
• "e" - electric motor (instead of Plug-in Hybrid and Electric Drve emblems);
• "f" - installation on fuel cells (instead of F-Cell);
• "h" - an index for hybrid engines (previously labeled as HYBRID or BlueTEC HYBRID).

Of course, such letter indexes are much shorter than the previous "BlueTEC HYBRID" and "Electric Drve", which, of course, will somewhat reduce the auto giant's expenses for letters for installation on the trunk lid.

As for gasoline power units, as before, there is no additional designation for them. And all all-wheel drive models are still referred to as 4MATIC. Mercedes also hints that it plans to expand its offer in the field of all-wheel drive vehicles, as they are in "steady growing demand."

Where the difficulties lie

SUVs. From now on, all Mercedes-Benz SUVs will begin with the letters "GL" in tribute to the famous G-Class. This abbreviation is followed by an indication of belonging to a particular class in the form of a third capital letter. For example, GLA - GL A-Class.

A complete transcript of the modern model line of Mercedes crossovers:

• = GL A-Class;
• = GL C-Class (ex GLK);
• = GL E-Class (former M-Class or ML);
• = GL E-Class Coupé;
• = GL S-Class (ex — GL);
• remains unchanged.

Four-door coupe. We see a similar story here. The first two letters are always "CL", followed by the index of the main model. That is, CLA and CLS - everything is as before.

Roadsters. From 2016 all MB roadsters will start with "SL". From that moment on, SLK will be called SLC.

AMG. As for AMG's performance division, it is a sub-brand in its own right and will set its own lineup for future models such as the GT and C63.

What is all this for?

As already mentioned, the new naming structure is intended to make it easier for customers to understand model range manufacturer. Besides, in last years Mercedes is rapidly increasing the volume of new models that also need to be given names. So, by 2020, Mercedes plans to expand its portfolio to 30 models, 11 of which will be completely new cars, and not evolved from existing models. The next year 2015, for example, will mark a real "overhaul" of the entire SUV line of the brand.

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December 1, 2016

In the five years that have passed since the publication of our first rating, three new objects have appeared in the top 10.

The last one is coming calendar month outgoing year - traditional time summing up all sorts of things. Today Malls.Ru present a new rating of the largest , based on the indicator of the total rental area G.L.A.

As the analysis shows, the format of super-regional shopping centers has been one of the most successful in the capital market for many years. Today, the largest shopping malls in the capital are among the most popular among international retailers and federal networks, have the highest occupancy and remain in the top list in terms of popularity among consumers.

All this makes it possible to predict that in the next few years Moscow will be able to accommodate several more large projects, including as part of new transfer hubs. TPS Real Estate plans to build new shopping centers in the Russian capital, IKEA chooses a site for the construction of the largest shopping center of the MEGA network, Enka plans to redevelop and new construction of large shopping centers in Moscow, the largest developers show interest in the sites allocated for the implementation of the IFC at transport hubs.

Rating of the largest shopping centers in Moscow

Air fleet. GLA = 230,000 sq.m

Exactly two years have passed since the opening of the "Aviapark" on Khodynsky boulevard. Since then, the shopping center has been constantly developing, holding the title of the largest in Russia and Europe. Every quarter Avipark opens 20-30 new tenants, including formats unique for Russia. Today, the largest shopping mall in Moscow is 95% commissioned.

Mega Belaya Dacha. GLA = 225,000 sq.m

The flagship project of Ikea Centers Russia MEGA Belaya Dacha has been one of the largest in Europe for ten years since its opening. With a total area of ​​more than 300,000 square meters, the facade of the complex stretches for 4 km, and the total number of tenants exceeds 350. The shopping gallery accounts for 133,000 square meters of space. Length and scale trading levels MEGA Belaya Dacha remains the largest in Russia.

Mega Khimki. GLA = 175,000 sq.m

Mega Khimki, conducting the zone reconception program Catering since the end of 2015, remains one of the most popular shopping destinations in the super-saturated north-western direction of Moscow. Initially, the MEGA shopping gallery accounted for 79,200 sq.m of space. The center remains one of the key ones in terms of the number of new brands coming to Russia. Currently, a campaign is underway to expand the retail space of the complex.

Golden Babylon Rostokino. GLA = 170,000 sqm

The flagship Moscow shopping and entertainment center under the Golden Babylon brand recently celebrated 7 years since its opening. With a total area of ​​240,000 sq.m, the mall has one of the largest shopping malls, which has about 450 tenants and more than 40 cafes and restaurants. In the spring of 2016, it was announced that the Golden Babylon was going to undergo a major renovation, which would take two years.

Mega Teply Stan. GLA = 157,000 sq.m

Moscow's smallest MEGA is also rapidly renewing and expanding thanks to the federal program to re-concept the network of shopping centers. Today, MEGA has 208 tenants, and in terms of sales per 1 sq.m of retail space, it ranks first.

Columbus. GLA = 136,000 sq.m

The Columbus shopping and entertainment center, which opened in 2015, has become one of the best new facilities in the capital's market. Both Morgan Stanley and ZAO Kyiv Ploshchad were interested in buying it. Columbus unites more than 300 stores and remains one of the most popular shopping centers filled with quality tenants in the south of Moscow.

Vegas Kashirskoye Highway. GLA = 134,731 sq.m

The first and largest in the network of shopping centers, Vegas on Kashirskoe shosse is the record holder in terms of total area among all Russian malls with GBA = 480,000 sq.m. Vegas on Kashirka is in many ways a shopping mall unique for the Moscow market with an extreme amusement park, a strong restaurant area and themed shopping streets.

Vegas Crocus City. GLA = 116,713 sqm

The second project of the Vegas shopping mall by the Crocus Group continues the idea of ​​a unique thematic zoning common to the chain. The mall features replicas of famous New York streets, Europe's largest 22-screen cinema, and free music concerts. Another "feature" of Vegas is a giant media facade, clearly visible from the Moscow Ring Road.

Metropolis. GLA = 118,000 sq.m

Metropolis on Leningradsky Prospekt once again became one of the largest malls in Moscow due to the launch of the second stage of the project in August with GLA = 38,000 sq.m. 100 new stores, a retractable roof, a restaurant area with a rooftop winter garden and a new atrium have made Metropolis even more attractive for shopping and leisure.

Afimoll City. GLA = 107 208 sq.m

The main news regarding one of the largest malls within the TTC: at the end of September it became known that AFI Development managed to retain control over its flagship shopping center. Afimall City, located in the central core of MIBC Moscow City, today remains one of the main gateways for new international brands to enter the Moscow market.

Over the past five years since the publication of our first rating, three new properties have appeared in the top 10 largest malls in Moscow. At the end of 2016, the total volume of retail space in Moscow malls will exceed 5 million sq.m. But in a few years there are reasons to expect new records. And today, publishing a review of the largest shopping centers in the capital, we expect that in two or three years its composition will once again have new names and big changes.

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In 2009, the total commissioning of retail space exceeded 1 million sq.m. (GLA - 594.2 thousand sq.m.), which is a record figure for the Moscow market (1.5 times more than in 2008). Thus, in 2009 the increase in the total volume of high-quality retail space amounted to 19.8%, the increase in GLA - 21.6%. It should be noted that the number of commissioned objects, compared to 2008, remained the same. The increase in the commissioned areas was due to the consolidation shopping facilities- most of them belong to super-regional format malls.

A huge volume of commissioned retail space in 2009 was provided mainly by large shopping and entertainment and multifunctional centers that were at the final stage of construction in 2008: Zolotoy Vavilon shopping mall, Gorod shopping mall, Filion shopping mall, Metropolis shopping mall ". Due to the economic downturn and weak demand from retailers, their opening was postponed to 2009. Due to problems with the lease of retail space, as well as insufficient funding and late tenants entering the finishing, a general trend in the market has been the commissioning of facilities with a shopping gallery that functions at 40-60%, followed by the opening of stores during the operation of the facility.

At the beginning of 2010, the supply of space in quality shopping centers in Moscow did not expand as dynamically as in the corresponding period of 2009. 2010: at the beginning of the year, the opening of 3 shopping and entertainment centers was announced: the Viva shopping and entertainment center in Northern Butovo, the Klyuchevoi shopping and entertainment center in Brateevo at the intersection of st. Borisovskie Prudy, st. Key and st. Ferry, I stage of the shopping center "River" on the street. Festivalnaya at the metro station "River Station". The total area of ​​the planned commissioning is 84.6 thousand sq.m. (GLA - 55.8 thousand sq.m.). However, until the end of March, only the first stage of the Rechnoy shopping and entertainment center with a total area of ​​26,000 sq.m. was opened. (GLA - 18.1 thousand sq.m.). Commissioning of 2 other centers was postponed to the end of April.

Cumulative supply in Moscow shopping centers (GBA) at the end of Q1 2010 reached 6,476.9 thousand sq.m. (GLA - 3,360.5 thousand sq.m.). Thus, to date, the provision of high-quality shopping centers for Moscow residents is 311.2 sq.m. (GLA) per 1,000 people, which is still less than the average this indicator in countries of Eastern Europe- 470 sq.m. per 1000 people.

In continuation of the existing trend, the opening of such significant trade projects like "Vegas", "Mall of Russia", "Gagarinsky", "Hudson". Their total area is about 60% of all objects planned for commissioning. In total, about 25 objects have been announced for 2010, their total area is about 1.5 million sq.m. (GLA - a little less than 700 thousand sq.m.). Today it is rather difficult to reliably predict which objects will enter the Moscow market in 2010. It is possible with a high degree of certainty to expect a larger volume of commissioning than in the previous year - about 600,000 sq.m. G.L.A. Inertial growth can be predicted in the 2nd half of 2010, since the last few years there has been a tendency for uneven commissioning of areas throughout the year and its activation by the end of the year.

Table 2. Facilities scheduled to open in 2010

	name of the property	county	The address	Claimed opening date	GBA total area (sq.m.)	Sales area GLA (sq.m.)
	River (Iqueue)		st. Festivalnaya, 2
	Viva		Projected pr-d 680
	Key		st. Borisovskie Prudy / st. key
	Caspian		Kronstadsky Boulevard, 3
	Marcos Mall		Altufevskoe sh., 70
	Monarch Center		Leningradsky prospect, ow. 31 pp. 2,3
	Rio (Chocolate)		2nd km of Moscow Ring Road
	Mall of Russia		Krasnopresnenskaya emb., sections 6, 7, 8B
	Gagarinsky		st. Vavilova, 3
	Izmailovsky		st. 4th park, ow. sixteen
	Kaleidoscope		Khimki Boulevard / st. Skhodnenskaya
	Sail		Novokurkinskoe sh., d. 1, microdistrict. 17
	Azov		st. Azovskaya, ow. 28 V
	Vegas		Kashirskoe sh. 24 km MKAD
	Voentorg		st. Vozdvizhenka, 10/2
	Sparrow Hills		st. Mosfilmovskaya, 70
	Shopping gallery of the Moscow Hotel		st. Okhotny Ryad, 2
	GoodZone		Kashirskoe sh., 12
	Mosfilmovsky		st. Pyreva, ow. 2
	Strogino		Stroginsky Boulevard, 22A
	Rainbow		st. Yeniseiskaya, 23
	Favorite		st. Venevskaya, ow. 7
TOTAL:

Source: NDV Real Estate company data

* the total area of ​​the retail component of the multifunctional complex is indicated

Demand

Starting from the end of 2008 and during the first half of 2009, due to the economic recession, there was a low activity of retailers and, as a result, a decrease in demand both for premises in shopping centers and in the street retail segment. The impact of the crisis situation on the development of the trade sector was confirmed not only by the freezing of projects, defaults of retail operators, but also by the growth in the share of vacant space. During 2009, the level of vacant premises in Moscow remained unstable, and in the third quarter of the year it was recorded at an unprecedented level - 16%. This figure was driven in part by low occupancy rates in new malls. Due to insufficient funding and the late release of tenants for finishing, the general trend in the market has been the commissioning of facilities with a shopping gallery that functions at 40-60%, followed by filling during the operation of the facility.

Source: NDV Real Estate company data

A high proportion of vacant space is also characteristic of shopping centers oriented towards the high price segment (up to 35%). The outflow of tenants is mainly observed in multifunctional complexes and poorly located facilities, centers with a weak concept (15-25%). At the same time, high-quality shopping centers with a well-thought-out concept avoided a significant increase in the level of vacant premises, and the most successful facilities (SEC Evropeisky, MEGA Teply Stan, MEGA Khimki) are still 100% full.

Starting from the 3rd quarter of 2009, the situation on the market began to change, and some revival was felt. Tenants have become more active: the number of lease transactions has increased, which has led to an end to the fall in rental rates (and growth was noted for a number of the most successful properties, as well as for some shopping corridors) and a decrease in the level of vacant premises (7% at the end of the year).

As of the 1st quarter of 2010, Moscow still remains a priority direction for the development of major retailers. One can observe the active expansion of regional chains to the vacated areas in the capital's shopping centers. The share of vacant space decreased in January - March 2010 to 5 - 7%. However, in view of the large amount of retail space scheduled for commissioning in 2010, we can predict an increase in vacant space by the end of the year up to 10 - 12%.

In general, retail operators prefer successfully functioning shopping centers with an excellent location, an effective concept and an adequate rental policy. Also, the demand of retailers is largely focused on large-scale projects that are at the final stage of construction.

Source: NDV Real Estate company data

A significant role in the structure of demand was provided by the fact that many retailers reduced the size of stores while maintaining the same level of profitability. So the share of premises that are of interest to the tenant is 100 - 200 sq.m. increased to 58%, they still remain the most in demand. While the premises are 200 - 400 sq.m. tenants are interested in only 11% of cases. The share of demand for large premises has significantly decreased. The least demanded in this situation on the market are premises over 1000 sq.m.

Commercial terms

The retail property rental market in 2009 could be characterized by a trend of transition from a “seller's market” to a “buyer's market”. The decrease in the overall level of rental rates continued from the end of 2008 and reached its maximum by mid-2009, amounting to 25% to 50% of the level of mid-2008. rental rates remained at the level of the pre-crisis period, and less successful, having conceptual flaws or unsuccessful location, in which the scale of reduction in rates when renting vacant premises was maximum.