The State Property Fund has completed the valuation of the Ukraina Hotel and plans to hold an auction for its privatization in late summer 2024, and for the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in the second half of the year, Vitaliy Koval, the head of the SPF, said in an interview with Mind.
“We have already completed the valuation of the hotel, which amounts to UAH 1.039 billion excluding VAT. We are now preparing for the auction, which we plan to hold in late summer, maybe even in the third quarter,” he said.
According to the SPF head, foreign operators are interested in privatizing the Ukraina Hotel, in particular, as they are considering upgrading it to a five-star hotel.
In addition, according to him, more than three bidders are considering participation in the auction for the privatization of the Ocean Plaza shopping center, and the Fund has received inquiries from investment funds and development companies.
As reported, the Ukraina Hotel is a state-owned enterprise managed by the SPF. It has 363 rooms, six conference halls, and meeting rooms. There is a parking lot for 80 cars and a shelter with a separate auditorium for 50 people. At the same time, the hotel’s debt is over UAH 45 million.
Ocean Plaza was opened in Kyiv in December 2012 at 176 Antonovycha Street. Its total area is 165 thousand square meters. Investments in the facility amounted to approximately $300 million. UDP and K.A.N. Development LLC acted as partners in the development of the project.
The mall was sold to Arkady Rotenberg’s Russian TPS Real Estate in 2012. Later, in 2019, Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky indirectly acquired a 33.5% stake in Ocean Plaza through UPD Holdings Limited. In 2021, he sold his stake to entrepreneur Andriy Ivanov. The deal was finalized in the summer of 2023.
In June 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred a 66.65% stake in the authorized capital of Lybid Investment Union LLC, which owns the mall, to the SPFU for further privatization.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has included 66.65% of the authorized capital of Lybid Investment Union LLC, which owns the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in Kyiv, in the list of large-scale privatization targets.
According to Taras Melnychuk, a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, the decision was made at a government meeting on Friday.
In October 2023, the State Property Fund of Ukraine appealed to the government with an initiative to include the state-owned stake (66.65%) in the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in the list of large-scale privatization objects. The Fund recommended setting the starting price for the sale of the state-owned stake in the mall at the level of its book value for the last reporting (annual) period.
At the end of 2022, the value of the state share amounted to UAH 1.32 billion (the carrying value of the entire asset was UAH 1.98 billion). At the same time, the Fund expects the sale of the lot to be more expensive than the book value.
As reported, on June 9, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers approved an order to transfer to the SPF a 66.65% share of the authorized capital of Lybid Investment Union LLC, which owns the mall, in the amount of 66.65%.
Previously, these corporate rights belonged to Russian businessmen Arkady and Igor Rotenberg, who are subject to sanctions, but in March 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled to recover them in favor of the state.
Ocean Plaza was opened in Kyiv in December 2012 at 176 Antonovycha Street. Its total area is 165 thousand square meters. Investments in the facility amounted to approximately $300 million. UDP and K.A.N. Development LLC were partners in the development of the project.
The mall was sold to Arkady Rotenberg’s TPS Real Estate in 2012. Later, in 2019, Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky indirectly acquired a 33.5% stake in Ocean Plaza through UPD Holdings Limited. In 2021, he sold his stake to entrepreneur Andriy Ivanov. The deal was finalized in the summer of 2023.
In Kyiv, at various stages of construction readiness, 32 business centers with a total GLA of almost 670,00 square meters (excluding large-scale facilities) are announced for opening in 2021-2022, Managing Partner of UTG Offices Volodymyr Heliuta has told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, according to the results of the first half of 2021, the total rental area of professional facilities in Kyiv is slightly more than 2 million square meters. In the structure of supply of space, class A accounts for 25%, B and C – 75%.
“About 52% of office space was commissioned before 2010 and today it is morally and technically outdated. Therefore, despite the permanent lockdowns, we see the interest of investors and developers in the office real estate market – frozen and postponed projects have been actively revived since the middle of 2020. Outdated shopping centers, hotel complexes, enterprises and factories are being reconstructed into office real estate,” Heliuta said.
For June 2021, the rental price per square meter a month in class A it was $20-25 excluding VAT, OPEX, utility bills and BOMA coefficients, in classes B and B + – $16-20.
The expert said that due to the release of a new proposal, vacancy is growing. Thus, in class A business centers it is 10%, in class B, B + business centers it is 10-15% with a tendency to increase.
Since the end of 2020, the tendency towards a decrease in rented space has continued. There is a growing trend towards renting turnkey office space, including fully equipped workspaces. Smaller and medium-sized tenants (especially those who are not ready to invest in renovation, improvement, furnishing of premises) are considering alternative options for changing offices.
“There is a high demand for open space offices without intricate renovations, within walking distance from the metro, in an area with developed infrastructure. In addition, one of the desired options for tenants is parking for bicycles and electric vehicles, as well as the opportunity to take a shower. Flexible office spaces adapted to a hybrid work format that allows employees to combine remote work from home with stay in the office are becoming the new norm,” Heliuta said.
According to him, the main consumer today is the representatives of the IT sector. “Adaptive offices are attractive for them: there are many projects and a team for 200 people – a large office is needed, few projects and the team has been reduced to 50 – a small one,” the expert said.
BUSINESS, BUSINESS CENTER, HOTEL, OFFICE CENTER, SHOPPING CENTER
PJSC Multiplex-Holding, developing the Multiplex cinema chain in Ukraine, is holding negotiations with managers of Kyiv’s TsUM shopping center, seeking to open a cinema in the new premium format in it.
“We are at the final stage of negotiations. It remains to agree on some details… In the next few weeks we will sign it [the lease agreement],” Commercial Director of Multiplex Holding Vitaliy Pysarenko told Interfax-Ukraine, confirming the company’s intentions.
According to him, after signing the contract, it will take up to six months to open the cinema.
“This will be a format that corresponds to the audience of the department store itself — premium. I think it will be very popular in the center of Kyiv,” Pysarenko said.
He added that the nearest cinema to the TsUM (the Oscar cinema network) operates in the Gulliver shopping center, but Multiplex intends to offer a unique format. Pysarenko did not provide more details, but added that in connection with the change of management at TsUM, the cinema operator “has high expectations regarding the new team.”
In general, according to him, by the end of 2019, Multiplex plans to open about 40 more cinema halls (about five facilities).
“We have big plans for the next year. What I can say specifically – we will open [cinema halls] in the Spartak shopping mall (Lviv), as well as at the end of the (current) year in the Gagarin Plaza shopping mall in Odesa, which will be our first cinema in this city,” Pysarenko said.
Focus Estate Fund investment fund (headquartered in Kyiv) has closed a deal on the acquisition of the Galeria Awangarda shopping center with a total area of 7,500 square meters in Bartoszyce (Poland), the company’s press service has said.
“With this investment, the fund increased its portfolio in the medium-sized retail real estate sector in Poland and the Czech Republic to five facilities with a total lease area of more than 34,000 square meters,” Managing Partner of Focus Estate Fund Andriy Kozyn said.
According to the report, the Galeria Awangarda shopping center was opened in April 2016, among its largest tenants are the stores Biedronka, Jysk, KIK, Deichmann, and ABRA.
According to the company, at the time of the deal, the vacancy of premises in the object was about 3%.
The press service said the transaction broker was KYHOS Real Estate s.r.o., the property manager was JLL, while legal support was provided by Czabański Gałuszyński i Partnerzy.
The company plans within two or three years to invest about EUR50 million in the development of medium-sized commercial property projects in Eastern Europe.
Headquartered in Kyiv has acquired the Galeria Eden shopping center in Zgorzelec (Poland) with a gross area of 8,500 square meters from Poland’s DNB Assets Holdco, the press service of the Ukrainian fund reported on Wednesday. “During the year, Focus Estate Fund together with the Polish development partner Młyn Retail Park will carry out work to expand the retail area to 10,000 square meters and change the format of the shopping center to a retail park,” the fund said.
According to the fund, investments in the re-concept will amount to more than EUR 1.5 million. It will take about a year to complete the project.
According to the fund, the international company JLL became the managing company of the facility.
“Due to the successful location of the retail park directly on the border with Germany, we expect a significant increase in the flow of buyers from Germany. For this we invest in modern architectural solutions that will give a new life cycle to the facility, and through the increase in the retail area attract more tenants,” the fund said, quoting its managing partner Andriy Kozin.
According to the Focus Estate Fund, the facility is located in a large shopping cluster in the village directly on the border with Germany, next to the German city of Görlitz, a major cultural and industrial center of the country.
The anchor tenants of the shopping center are Jysk, Komfort, Abra Meble, Pepco and Takko Fashion.
As reported in October 2017, the Focus Estate Fund acquired Most Retail Park in Most (the Czech Republic) with a total area of 6,500 square meters. In 2016, the fund acquired Centro Ostrava Retail Park in the Czech Republic and Galeria Sandomierz in Poland. The company plans to invest about EUR 50 million within two or three years in the development of commercial medium-sized commercial property projects in Eastern Europe.
