Colliers International has signed a contract with the Israeli development company Europort to find three land plots in St. Petersburg to accommodate A-class business parks covering 12 to 25 hectares and preferably located to the north, east and south of the ring road. With its first Russian project, Europort, which was launched in 2006 to handle development projects in Eastern Europe, continues to penetrate new markets and move further east.
Business parks are usually located far from downtown premises due to their large size, and consequently offer lower rent rates and excellent engineering and social infrastructure, including sports and entertainment facilities, shopping areas, kindergartens, hotels and parking lots.
Although business parks are a relatively new area of real estate and underrepresented in St. Petersburg, competition in the sector is increasing, with numerous developers including GK Development, Region Development, Setl City holding and Utkina Zavod Development keen to enter the market in around 2010, Val Zherdes, strategy and investment consulting director at Praktis consultancy firm told RBC Daily.
