Translated material
Don-demolition
Moscow authorities intend to force a well-known developer to dismantle the constructed floors
The fight against unauthorized construction in the Russian capital, which began with attempts by the prefecture of the Western Administrative District to demolish illegally erected cottages in the village of Rechnik , has reached unprecedented heights. Yesterday it became known about the authorities’ intention not only to destroy buildings in the Virazh village located opposite Rechnik, but also to reduce the number of floors in the almost finished elite skyscraper “House on Mosfilmovskaya”. RIA Novosti, citing sources in the Moscow mayor's office, reported that the decision to “cut down” the number of floors of this tower, being built by the Don-Stroy company, was made late on Tuesday evening at a meeting of the task force to combat unauthorized construction under Yuri Luzhkov.In addition to the mayor himself, the task force includes prefects of administrative districts, members of the Moscow government, as well as representatives of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate and the city prosecutor's office. It was they who decided that the developer, the Don-Stroy company, had arbitrarily exceeded the number of storeys approved in the building project. The current project of architect Sergei Skuratov suggests that ultimately the height of the housing complex should reach 200 meters, and it will consist of two towers of different shapes and number of floors (47 and 32 floors) and a seven-story section between them. City Hall officials claimed yesterday morning that 22 floors less were initially agreed upon. However, it later became clear that the number of floors to be demolished was still being determined.
To confirm this news, which first came from anonymous sources, the mayor's office delegated Oleg Mitvol, prefect of the Northern Administrative District, who is part of the operational group. He previously served as a kind of press agent and defender of the interests of the capital government in scandals with Rechnik, located outside his jurisdiction, and the village of Sokol, located in the Northern Administrative District. The prefect did not go into details of the problem with the “House on Mosfilmovskaya”, but emphasized that “the fight against self-construction will continue in Moscow” and the authorities do not intend to stand on ceremony with unscrupulous developers. "The city's position has always been tough," Mr. Mitvol said.
The press secretary of the capital's mayor, Sergei Tsoi, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostey correspondent, confirmed that the authorities intend to reduce the number of floors of this Don-Stroy high-rise building, but, apparently, the demolition will not be so large-scale. “The demolition of floors will definitely happen. And what is not allowed, not agreed upon, and does not meet the standards will be demolished,” said Mr. Tsoi. But, according to his calculations, the developer did not properly approve less than 22 floors, although “also quite a large number.”
In any case, this is an unprecedented step by officials of the capital’s mayor’s office, whose leadership has always favored construction companies, especially such well-known ones as Don-Stroy. The demolition of “extra” floors has been periodically recorded in the capital over the past decade, but never on such a large scale. For example, in 2006, by decision of the capital’s authorities, the office center in Kolokolnikov Lane was “downsized” without much scandal. The developer, the Kontus company, erected an eleven-story office center with a height of 34.8 meters instead of the five-story one agreed upon in the design documentation, the height of which should not have exceeded 24.6 meters. As a result, the authorities forced the developer to remove six unplanned floors. And last year, by decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court, the illegal attic on Pasternak’s house in Oruzheyny Lane was dismantled. As Newsru.com reminds, the unauthorized structure was discovered by specialists from the Moscow Heritage Committee in 2007. The developer did not have any documents to carry out the work - neither a construction permit, nor an approved project, nor the approval of the Moscow Heritage Committee, which is required when the building is a monument. As a result, the attic was liquidated at their own expense by the developers - Tirg CJSC and Consul M LLC.
The current decision of the task force at the mayor’s office affects a deluxe residential high-rise in Ramenki, which is now clearly visible from the city center. Even at the foundation pit stage, experts estimated this project at $300 million. Moreover, for the first time, the Moscow authorities are consciously going to increase the number of dissatisfied co-investors - most of the 564 apartments in the high-rise building under construction have already been sold, and the developer is being asked to return the money to those who fall under high-altitude sequestration. But the house began to be built back in 2004, and even the crisis could not return the cost per square meter of luxury housing to the level of those years. Today, the minimum price per square meter of living space in the House on Mosfilmovskaya is 350 thousand rubles, Dmitry Stepanenko, an agent of the INCOM-Real Estate company, told Vremya Novostei. According to him, at the beginning of the project, the cost of apartments was “noticeably less.”
However, the Don-Stroy company claims that they have not received official orders to demolish floors or pay compensation. “There are no decisions, decrees or regulations regarding the demolition of floors in the residential complex “House on Mosfilmovskaya”. We assure everyone who purchased an apartment in this facility that the company’s obligations to its clients will be fulfilled in full,” such a statement was contained in the Don-Stroy press release issued yesterday. The company does not provide any other comments that could shed light on the circumstances of the appearance of “above-plan” floors. The capital’s construction complex does not comment on the scandal either.
It is the contradiction between the statements of representatives of the mayor’s office and the developer that allows some observers to assume that a PR campaign is taking place, during which officials will be able to demonstrate their toughness, and the floors in the “House on Mosfilmovskaya” will ultimately remain untouched. The leader of the Yabloko party, Sergei Mitrokhin, believes that even loud statements at the mayoral level will not prevent the construction company from quietly settling the problem by agreeing on a new project - with “above-plan” floors. “Don-Stroy is not an organization that will demolish its own buildings with its own hands,” Mr. Mitrokhin, who, when he was a Moscow City Duma deputy, tried without much success to support initiative groups of Muscovites who fought against this developer, told Vremya Novostey. According to Mr. Mitrokhin, as a last resort, Don-Stroy will initiate litigation, which with a high degree of probability it will be able to win.
Member of the Public Chamber, professor of the Moscow Architectural Institute Vyacheslav Glazychev also predicts a complex trial. In a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent, he emphasizes that legal battles will unfold not only between the authorities and the developer - the buyers of apartments in the House on Mosfilmovskaya are also unwittingly involved in the scandal, who will certainly defend their rights. But at the same time, Mr. Glazychev considers the very path chosen by the authorities - punishment for illegal construction - “the only possible form of behavior.” “I’m not familiar with the details of the story, but if there really are height violations, measures should be taken,” the expert noted. He recalled similar cases that clearly demonstrated that the Moscow authorities are able to limit construction chaos. Mr. Glazychev emphasized that the fight against illegal development is a global practice, and often punitive measures by the authorities are followed by litigation. “I witnessed this type of trial in New York. Then, by court decision, 11 floors of the building were demolished,” said Mr. Glazychev.
It is unlikely that the second identified hotbed of “illegal” buildings – the Virazh settlement on Karamyshevskaya embankment – will surrender without a fight. As Augustin Severin, press secretary of the prefecture of the North-Western Administrative District of Moscow, told Vremya Novostey, the prefecture of the North-Western Administrative District in court has achieved recognition of several buildings as illegal, including those already inhabited. According to him, more than ten residential buildings and two mooring structures, built without permission, as officials now claim, on the territory of Moskvoretsky Park, may be demolished. “By a court decision, owners of unauthorized buildings are obliged to demolish them themselves. In case of failure to comply with this decision, the right of demolition is granted to the prefecture of the North-Western Administrative District. In this case, an auction will be held to select a contractor who will demolish the illegal buildings. The cost of demolishing each building will be from 5 to 10 million rubles. This money will be used not only for demolition, but also for the removal and disposal of construction waste and rehabilitation of the territory,” says the press service of the Northwestern Administrative District prefecture.
The war against illegal buildings on Karamyshevskaya embankment began back in 2004. After a protracted legal battle, bailiffs received permission to demolish five yacht club buildings in February this year. However, they never implemented it. The fact is that the company, the owner of the yacht club ZAO Virazh, is trying to appeal the court's decision, although, judging by the latest information, it has so far been unsuccessful. And now the prefecture and bailiffs are “working to implement court orders.”
Such activity of the capital's authorities, however, leaves the main question unanswered: why in Moscow, famous for its bureaucratic machine, and in such a regulated area as construction, violations are revealed at the finishing stage. Supporting the actions of officials, Vyacheslav Glazychev emphasizes that in such a scandal only one party cannot be guilty. “It is not clear why this was discovered only now, when the house is almost completed, the apartments have been sold out,” a representative of the Public Chamber was indignant in a conversation with a Vremya Novostey correspondent. “And these are questions for the prefecture, inspection commissions, and housing supervision.” According to the expert, it is the answer to this question that Muscovites are now waiting for even more than the demolition of the “extra” floors of the House on Mosfilmovskaya.