AIG European Real Estate Fund has bought a warehouse complex with a total area of 80 000 sqm. from the French company FM Logistic. It is located in Khimki, 4km from Sheremetyevo-2 airport. The rentable area in the complex is nearly 66 000 sqm. The deal was carried out by Knight Frank.
The deal was a ‘sale with return lease’ (i.e. after the deal is completed the former owner signs a long-term lease). So FM Logistic has become sole tenant in the complex, which will be used to service clients such as Auchan, Danone, Mars, Nestle etc. Knight Frank believes that this is the first institutional deal on the Russian warehouse market which features only foreign companies, including Hypo Real Estate, which financed the purchase giving more than $50mln. in credit.
Interest in the storage property market among western companies has grown considerably. Last year Raven Russia, an investment fund, bought the 115 000 sqm. Kreshkino logistics complex from Rosevrodevelopment. This deal used forward financing, in which the developer is obliged to complete construction on the property and fill it with tenants.
Andrei Patrushev, PR director at Knight Frank, notes that, at the moment, despite difficulties, these are the two most attractive ways for investing in real estate, as the developer gets the chance to sell a project at a profit, and the investor significantly lowers the level of risk.
This storage complex in Khimki is not AIG Group’s first real estate project. Two years ago AIG/Lincoln’s development division, alongside Coalco, announced the construction of 1 mln. sqm. of warehousing in Podmoskove. However, they later left the project, while remaining Coalco’s partner in the construction of the Belaya Ploshchad (White Square) business center in central Moscow. AIG/Lincoln is also building a storage complex on Altufeevskoe Shosse, with an area of 80 tho. sqm.
AIG Global Real Estate is one of the world’s leading real estate players. The company manages interests worth $10 bln. The company’s headquarters are in New York and its European office in London. AIG Group includes the French logistics company FM Logistic, which has been working in Russia since 1994.
/ Source: CRE
|
