December 09, 2019, 00:07 / Real estate

Yandex is preparing to conclude one of the largest deals in the office market

The company wants to rent up to 45,000 sq. m in the Oko tower in Moscow City Anton Filatov Ksenia Boletskaya

Yandex can rent up to 45,000 sq. m in the Oko tower in Moscow City / Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

Yandex is looking for another office, three consultants who worked with the company, as well as the owners of business centers with whom the search engine was negotiating, told Vedomosti. According to them, negotiations with Capital Group on leasing space in the Oko tower in the Moscow City business center are at the most advanced stage. Initially, the company agreed that it would take 10,000–14,000 sq. m. m, but now we are talking about all the free space both in the complex itself and in the BusinessClub coworking space, which is due to open in January next year.

Currently, Oko has between 35,000 and 40,000 sq.m. available. m, calculated the director of the office real estate department at Knight Frank, Konstantin Losyukov, and the senior director of the office premises department at CBRE, Elena Denisova. Another 4500 sq. m – coworking area. Thus, it turns out that Yandex can rent up to 44,500 sq. m.

“We are growing and developing, so we are constantly considering various options for expansion,” a Yandex representative told Vedomosti. He did not comment on the details of the negotiations. A source close to the company confirmed that Oko is among the options being considered. A Capital Group representative declined to comment.

Negotiations between Yandex and Capital Group are aggravated by the fact that other companies are vying for some of the free space in Oko, Vedomosti’s interlocutors say. So, at the end of November, Kommersant reported that Artem Avetisyan’s Modulbank could purchase up to 9,000 sq. m there. m, about 7000 sq. m wants to rent the pharmaceutical company Novartis. Now negotiations with them are suspended, since a large client is preferable for Capital Group. A source close to Modulbank only said that the Oko deal is now under big question; he did not explain the reasons. A Novartis representative did not respond to Vedomosti’s request. His colleague from Modulbank did not provide comments on Sunday, December 8.

Yandex . is one of the most active tenants in Moscow Now the company occupies about 55,000 sq. m in the business center "Red Rose" on the street. Timur Frunze and 30,000 sq. m in the Aurora complex next to Paveletsky railway station. In addition, this year Yandex.Market rented 3,900 sq. m. m in the Workki coworking space on Zubovsky Boulevard, as well as 15,800 sq. m in the Lotte shopping and business center on Novy Arbat to locate its headquarters.

Last year, Yandex found a place for its head office. The company acquired the Korston Hotel on the street. Kosygina. She plans to demolish it and build a headquarters in its place, in which she will place all her divisions. Considering that construction will take at least 4-5 years, and then the company will still need time for finishing and moving, it is absolutely logical that Yandex wants to immediately rent a large office during this time, says Colliers International partner Stanislav Bibik. Moreover, according to him, Yandex is actively growing and constantly needs new space. Perhaps the company already understands that one headquarters will not be enough for it. The company employed 9,588 people as of September 30, which is 8% more than a year earlier, according to its reporting.

Bibik also reminds that it is extremely difficult to find large premises in Moscow today due to the shortage of offices, so the company is most likely taking space in Oko for the future. Facilities in Moscow City are the only option for locating large companies inside the Third Transport Ring, agrees Losyukov.

The rental rate in Oko can be 30,000–33,000 rubles. for 1 sq. m per year, says Denisova. Losyukov’s estimate is 35,000 rubles. for 1 sq. m per year. Thus, Yandex can pay approximately 1.3–1.5 billion rubles annually for a new office. If the parties agree, this will be one of the largest transactions in the office real estate market in the last few years, said consultants interviewed by Vedomosti. rented about the same amount was in 2017 The last time Sberbank in the Poklonka Place business center, recalls Lyusyukov. This year, Yandex also achieved a record deal: Yandex.Market rented 15,800 sq. m. m in Lotte on Novy Arbat.

Disclaimer: The area of premises rented by Yandex in the Aurora complex has been clarified.

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"Yandex.Market"<br>Lotte, New Arbat<br>15,836 sq. m

/ Yandex maps