ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Private investors on Wednesday paid $13 million for 900 hectares (2,224 acres) of land from Russia's second largest city, in a sign that the recession-hit real estate market may be starting to recover.
The auction was won by SPB-Renovation, whose owners include Alexander Abramov, co-owner of steel miner Evraz, for 391.2 millions rouble ($12.97 million).
The buyers plan to knock down the outdated blocks of flats currently standing on the land in St Petersburg's outskirts, and replace them with over 7 million square metres (75.35 million sq ft) of modern, economy-level accommodation.
Oleg Barkov, the head of Knight Frank's office in St Petersburg, said the new flats will be in demand as the area is popular, but added that the project will not be easy to carry out, as St Petersburg has no experience in such renovations.
