Moscow City finally taking off

Reported by Cécile Balavoine. Photos by Ludovic Maisant.

The first groundbreaking dates back a long way: 1995. The first talks went back even further: to 1992. At the time, the idea was to redevelop a hundred-hectare wasteland four kilometres west of Red Square into a new business district where everything would be concentrated. Hope was bornThis means that you no longer have to cross the capital for a business meeting, thus avoiding painful traffic jams.

The Moscow City district has taken its time, but is now emerging. The challenge of making it a place to work, live and play has been met. Today, while some buildings are still being completed, the district has found its true face, dominated by the imposing stature of Federation TowerEurope's tallest skyscraper.

In 2016, 900,000 m² of office space have been delivered, representing 14 buildings out of the 20 planned. In 2017, Federation Tower East and IQ-Quarter were inaugurated. This will be followed by phase two of the Empire Business complex in 2018 and the long-awaited Neva Towers twins in 2019. In total, 500 000 m² office space are still under development. The Evolution Tower is a unique 255 metre high twisting tower designed by Scottish artist Karen Forbes.

Improved service

But what makes Moscow City so successful, in addition to its taste for innovation and the sheer size of its spaces, is the new ease with which you can reach the centre of Moscow from the business district. In recent years, three underground stations have opened - Moskva Siti/Vystavochnaya, Mezhdunarodnaya and Dorocomilovskaya - to which was added in September 2016 the Moscow Central Ring circular line, equivalent to the RER in Paris. "The introduction of public transport, in particular the opening of three metro stations and the connection with the new line, has done a great deal for the development of the district.It's a real challenge," says Sarper Altunyuva, property manager of Enka Towers, the district's three oldest towers, which between them house 12,000 employees.

This efficient urban network has had another impact: it has boosted Moscow City's mixed-use vocation. Of the 100,000 people present on the site every day, 60,000 are employees and residents, while the remaining 40,000 are occasional visitors, attracted in particular by the vast Afi Mall shopping centre. Inaugurated in 2011, it is now one of the largest in Europe, with a surface area of 320,000 m² Since the opening of the circular transport line, Afi Mall has been connected to another first-class shopping centre, Metropolis, whose ultra-modern extension opened in autumn 2016. In all, no fewer than five million additional visitors are expected to visit the two shopping centres thanks to this new circular line.

Brand new towers

At the moment, Moscow City is offering more and more top-of-the-range homes that are having no trouble finding takers. Most of them are located on the upper floors of brand new towers, and are proof that the neighbourhood is alive and wellEven if schools and crèches are in very short supply. Could it be that young families are being targeted by developers?

In any case, parks, restaurants and sports centres are springing up all over the place. A huge concert hall could also be built, incorporating spaces dedicated to music and art, restaurants, cafés and bars. There are also whispers thatan oversized clockThe 64-metre diameter of the building's facade will put it straight into the Guinness Book of Records!

"Many Turkish investment groups have invested in Moscow City, including Enka with the Naberezhnaya complex of three towers.says Arnaud Benoît, director of Inov'office, a property consultancy based in Moscow. They are home to Anglo-Saxon companies such as IBM, General Electric, Renaissance Capital, Citigroup, General Motors, Oracle and Pfizer."These major players in the global economy attract wealthy expatriates in search of a Moscow of excellence. The dream of a penthouse 300 metres above sea level, overlooking the Kremlin, is undoubtedly a better seller than pure pragmatism.