INDUSTRIAL LAND MARKET OF SAINT-PETERSBURG AND LENINGRAD REGION:  1ST QUARTER OF 2009

PETERLAND continues to publish the results of their own study of the market of industrial land plots located in Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad Region, and does hereby proudly presents the review of the market for the 1st quarter of 2009.

Like in the previous review (for the 4th quarter of the year 2008), the land plots of industrial category and land plots of settlement category with the permitted use for production and warehousing purpose have been considered. Moreover, land plots of agricultural category, just about to be reassigned to industrial category (i.e. the land use planning, where such land plots are located, has been completed in one way or another, or there are other regulation documents, defining the reassignment of such plots), have also been considered.

When preparing this review for industrial land plots we used our own PETERLAND database, materials from specialized printed matters («Kommercheskaya nedvizhimost'» («The Commercial Real Estate»), «BN» («The Property Bulletin»), «Delovoi Peterburg» («The Business Petersburg»), «Prigorod» («The Suburb») etc.), data by property and consulting companies, published in the mass media or on the Internet, as well as data from private sources. Compared to the previous review the market profile has become more representative: the number of land plots has increased to 517 (before – 400 approximately). The number of sources has also increased – from 84 to 96.
All prices have been recalculated in US dollars at the exchange rate: RUB 34 for USD 1 (average exchange rate for the 1st quarter of 2009).

The results of the study are presented on maps and diagrams.

Out of the review one can make the following conclusions:

1. It is once again confirmed that the major number of objects (over 90%) is located in the vicinity of Saint-Petersburg and its suburbs: up to A-120 motorway, 25-30 km away from the Ring Road.

2. It is also proved that the traditional review of real estate objects by administrative districts they are located in, with the average prices in such district, is not adequate and does not give the proper insight into the market of industrial land plots.
On Map 1 above one can see that the land plots are grouped in several zones, each one characterized by relative price homogeneity, and are located along the main traffic routes and exits from Saint-Petersburg.
On Map 2 such zones are highlighted with different colors and price characteristics are provided for each of such zones.

3. On the following Diagram the distribution of the industrial land plots by area is given. One can see that the the land pots under 5 ha constitute the majority of offers – 59%. It should be noted that the demand for such plots is the highest.

4. When choosing an industrial land plot it is necessary to consider the availability of utility systems or the possibility to connect them. Our study showed that the share of land plots fully equipped with engineering communications is pretty small – only 9% of the total number of offers, whereas another 18% may also be considered ready-to-use (approvals and/or technical specifications have been obtained). And the majority (73%) of land plots is either poorly developed or simply virgin land.