RBK Nedvizhimost: Exodus from Rublevka: Affluent Muscovites Come Back to the City
30 May 2013
Exodus from Rublevka: Affluent Muscovites Come Back to the City
Affluent owners of elite countryside houses come back to Moscow – they “surprised” with this hot news both in pre-crisis 2008 and in 2011. Prices for real estate in the countryside came down with a run and supply exceeded the demand. However it turned out not so easy to move to the centre: there was no deserving alternative to settled life of de luxe class surrounded by greenery and with the proper level of comfort and security. The third try of respectable families to move to Moscow promises to be the most successful one. In the historical centre of the city there has appeared a project of new format, a fashionable residential complex in the British style Knightsbridge Private Park, two thirds of which are covered with a superb landscaped park
Background and History of Demand
In order to quash rumours and come out of stagnation, a couple of years ago in the countryside real estate market there started a powerful agitation campaign intended for attraction of affluent citizens to buy elite single family houses. In 2012 it appeared to many that the demand for single family houses, townhouses and households is resuming its natural course and migration to the Moscow region will come with a wet sail. Nothing of the kind. Slight recovery of the prestigious countryside segment turned out to be a shot into the air: the demand in the market is still lower than the supply.
The cause of dumping is not so much the financial crisis but altered needs of affluent buyer - keen desire to come back to Moscow by any means. The elite urban real estate market having survived price hike in the middle of the zero years and sheer fall in 2009, as a persistent fighter has recovered, improved in strength, bounced back and acquired enviable prospects. During the last two years de luxe flats in Moscow have been steadily increasing in price, interest of sophisticated customers is growing. There is one significant problem, in the city there are very few projects with convenient location and an interesting concept.
It is noteworthy that the trend “new wave of urbanisation” has outlined not only in Russia but also, for example, in the USA. According to the Washington Post, American neighbourhoods are not any more associated with elite. Low-income persons here are more numerous than affluent ones. The New York Times also highlights this tendency in relation to life of rich families in the Big Apple.
Causes and Effects
The global problem of the Moscow region is an unbearable situation on all suburban highways without exception. Notwithstanding the reconstruction of prestigious highways, traffic here is not going to change within the next 15 years. To the most irritated segment belong businessmen and senior executives of large companies who have to drive to the city on business every day, and it is getting more and more difficult to get to the centre and back home. What is this stress for? Why not to live in close vicinity to work? Fed up with traffic jams people started actively to get rid of countryside real estate, first of all of expensive nearest cottages. Another crucially new tendency in the elite segmentl: some affluent people who built luxurious mansions a few years ago, today treat them as seasonal accommodations or just good quality dachas. On the agenda in their property plans there is purchase of a high status de luxe flat in Moscow.
Some affluent people who built luxurious mansions a few years ago, today treat them as seasonal accommodations or just good quality dachas. What to choose, the city or its neighbourhoods, people decide taking into account their family composition. If there is a preschool child in a family, people usually decide on a countryside house. As soon as children reach secondary school age, there arises the issue of moving to Moscow. In the capital there is a wide choice of elite schools and educational centres. And for children themselves entertainments within a settlement are getting not enough. Let alone the fact that expensive accommodations in Moscow remain a highly liquid investment vehicle that cannot be said about single family houses and townhouses in the Moscow region.
It is worth to note particularly the infrastructural minimalism of settlements in the Moscow region with a standard set of offers in the public area: a mini-market, a fitness centre, etc. Local residents have to plan their day thoroughly, without spontaneous desires: you will hardly leave the settlement once again on the same day. Unfortunately it is not always possible to foresee all emergency situations including an emergency visit to a doctor. According to statistics, polyclinics, medical centres and veterinary clinics are the rarest items of private infrastructures. A pharmacy booth is maximum one can count on. As a result, living in the region turns out to be daily routine “in the four walls”.
It is obvious that none of the elite settlements in the Moscow region is able to compete with the infrastructure of the historical centre of the capital, like, for example, in Khamovniki. Close vicinity to the Kremlin and significant cultural sites, neighbourhood of parks and green public gardens (Neskuchny Garden and the Novodevichy Convent), picturesque embankments, rich choice of good educational establishments (including private ones), the best in Moscow health care institutions, availability of the main traffic arteries of the city – the region is unable to compete with such “luxury” of the capital.
One and Only
The main question that has arisen before affluent “emigrants from the Moscow region” – where in the city one can find a good alternative to settled life with songs of birds, fresh air, private atmosphere and reliable security system. Luxury single family houses or terraced townhouses in the heart of the capital are exotic. For this reason until recently moving to Moscow was impossible for countryside residents: there were no worthy offers in the market of urban real estate. It was much more attractive to buy a flat abroad. The format of “house in house” or two-storey townhouses is not new for Europe. In the Old World it was popular already several centuries ago and is still in demand today. Such accommodations are typical of London, Paris and even New York. Just remember, for example, British Cornwall terrace, The Lancasters or bohemian districts of Manhattan. In Moscow the share of two-storey-flats on the first floors in the total supply of elite newly erected houses is low (about 1%). That is why the offer is unique and public interest is high.
Appearance of Knightsbridge Private Park in Khamovniki, a residential quarter in traditional Englsh style has made respectable buyers to revise their opinions of life in the city. The ground floors of the first mansions are taken up by two-storey-townhouses with floor spaces up to 600 square meters. Accommodations seem more spacious due to panoramic windows and high ceilings (from 3.3. to 3.6 metres). Each of the townhouses has a private yard of 400-600 sq. metres, the landscape of which complements the common concept of the British park. And a separate courtyard entrance reminds a terrace in London outskirts. Owners have a feeling that they still live in a private countryside estate but at the same time they do not spend long hours for a ride, do not refuse from entertainments and spend more time with their families. Within the common architectural project Knightsbridge Private Park one can choose other formats of household as good as a single family house in terms of comfort. For example, flats with terraces, fireplaces and barbecue areas or a penthouse with a roof view.
The problem of the lack of green space and fresh air has been solved in Knightsbridge Private Park in its own way. It is the only de luxe project in the Central Administrative Area, more than half of the area of which is covered with a landscaped park of 2 hectares. The park and garden area is closed for traffic and unavailable for strangers. Spacious households create the feeling of living in a private countryside house in the centre of Moscow. No solid reasons are left to put off the long-awaited move.
Source: RBK Nedvizhimost