Vyacheslav Trapeznikov: "Building skyscrapers is profitable!"

Vyacheslav Trapeznikov, Executive Director of NP SRO Guild of Builders of the Urals, Executive Secretary of the Organizing Committee of 100+ Forum Russia, spoke about skyscrapers, Yekaterinburg and the upcoming high-rise construction forum in an interview with RBC-Real Estate.

- Yekaterinburg today has more than 40 buildings above 25 floors. Of these, four buildings are higher than 100 meters and two buildings are higher than 200 meters," Vyacheslav Trapeznikov, executive director of the NP SRO Guild of Builders of the Urals, begins the interview without waiting for the first question. - In other cities, with the exception of Moscow, there is no such thing. There are no 45-storey buildings or residential buildings above 100 meters. Yekaterinburg has a unique competence in this regard.

- Are these 40 skyscrapers in Yekaterinburg housing or business centers?

- The majority of skyscrapers - 80% - are residential. Unlike in Moscow, the massive demand for offices in the Urals ended in 2008. And it cannot be said that he has recovered.

10 years ago, I myself built one of the first 25-storey buildings in our city (Vyacheslav Trapeznikov headed the Aston Group construction company. – RBC's note). And I remember very well how much doubt and fear the designers and builders had. This first project turned out to be ineffective and incorrect. It was not possible to make money on it, but it was possible to lose enormously.

Then, 10 years ago, as it turned out, we simply did not know how to "cook cats", as in that joke. Therefore, when the second 25-storey building was being built, everything was done differently. It turned out that it can be comfortable, properly "planted", and allows you to earn money. And today it is already possible to earn money on buildings of "100+", these are 32 floors and above. This remains inaccessible to many Russian regions except Moscow. Yekaterinburg is already ready to build skyscrapers over 200 meters high.

The first such facility in Yekaterinburg was Vysotsky. Not everyone knows how complex this object is. By the way, it was designed and built by Sverdlovsk residents. Its architect– Vladimir Yuryevich Grachev– is one of the leading Russian specialists. In addition, several construction companies have "grown" on Vysotsky. Today, they are building unique facilities all over the country – cosmodromes, nuclear power plants, and runways. The next high-rise object will be the Iset Tower. She will overthrow Vysotsky from the position of the northernmost skyscraper. With these buildings in mind, Yekaterinburg is ahead of all Russian million-plus cities for decades to come.

- Are the above-mentioned 40 skyscrapers enough for Yekaterinburg?

"Of course not. If the urban planning situation allows, then the Yekaterinburg developer will "plant" a 25–storey building or even higher. I can assure you that dozens of "25 plus" category facilities are under construction today. These are mostly residential buildings. Back in 2006-2007, Yekaterinburg reached a historical record for the commissioning of real estate. We began to introduce 2 million square meters each. m annually. Of these, 1 million are non–residential premises. None of the Russian million-plus cities has ever approached such a figure.

- What is the view of the skyscrapers from the local authorities? There are height restrictions in Moscow and the Moscow region. The new architectural look of the Moscow region, for example, suggests that residential buildings should be no higher than 9 floors.

- Yekaterinburg is the most compact million-plus city in the country. Objectively, our reserves of vacant land for development were exhausted 2 years ago, when land auctions ended. The market price of 1 hectare for residential development before the crisis reached 60 million rubles, after that – up to 100 million rubles and above. The reserve of undivided lands is almost exhausted. All that's left is the development of built-up areas. And this is a matter for rich companies. We had precedents – the plot was sold for 180 million rubles, and it went up to 300 million for 2 hectares.

- Do the authorities somehow stimulate high-rise construction?

- It is profitable for a developer to build skyscrapers in order to recapture the cost of expensive land. However, they still need to be able to build. Gavrilovsky (Andrey Gavrilovsky, developer, owner of the Vysotsky business center. – RBC's note), for example, did not earn money on Vysotsky – he himself said this in many interviews. And he started building it so high simply because the land cost a lot of money.

Of course, we want to build three-storey European-style houses. But a megacity can't live like this. It cannot expand indefinitely. Accordingly, by reducing space due to height, we are seriously treating the urban economy. A skyscraper doesn't need so many utility networks, so much landscaping. The situation with high-rise construction in Yekaterinburg is caused by the economy and conscious policy of the authorities. The construction of Vysotsky was Chernetsky's consolidated decision (Arkady Chernetsky, head of Yekaterinburg in 1992-2010 – RBC's note) and Rossel (Eduard Rossel, governor of the Sverdlovsk region in 1993-2009 – RBC's note). It wasn't easy, but it was quite conscious. And it has radically changed the urban development situation. Now the authorities have approved another building on Vojvodina Street with 50 floors. Yekaterinburg has everything to be a high-rise city.

- And how do the buyers feel about such an offer?

- Ten years ago, they said that a 25-storey building was an anthill. Today, this is not discussed at all, but people calmly enter 100-meter houses and are ready to pay 100 thousand rubles per square meter. I am deeply convinced that there will be a similar situation with two-hundred-meter houses. It's like an apartment. 30% of the total supply is already under construction in Moscow. We have 7% so far. But Yekaterinburg residents have already tried it out and are ready to buy apartments in skyscrapers.

About Yekaterinburg City

- You mentioned the Iset Tower, which is being built on the territory of Yekaterinburg City, which was originally conceived as a grandiose high-rise business district. What happened to this project?

- I really hope that Yekaterinburg City will not repeat the mistakes of the capital. The Guardians of the Urals project has not been buried yet, although I do not see a financial resource under it. But I know first-hand that the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UGMK) will continue to develop Yekaterinburg City. They have a plan, and they carry it out. Yekaterinburg City will be a high-rise block with a central boulevard, shopping, and a well-developed apartment function. It will be a full–fledged city. But so far there are no projects for the next towers after Iseti.

- "Moscow City" was called an urban planning mistake and they are trying to solve transport problems by building interchanges and roads. And what about Yekaterinburg City?

- Firstly, Yekaterinburg City has a single strong operator, UMMC, which will not start cutting this site. Secondly, we are following in the footsteps of Moscow City, which is much easier. The Moscow City project is a project in which greed has won. Imagine that you are a Moscow developer, you have built a tower near a park, having invested a billion in it. Your friend also invested a billion and also built a tower. And they tell you that everything will be beautiful, that people will buy apartments from you, walk in the park. After that, some official takes and sells this park. And with it, sidewalks and comfortable driveways. This is the urban planning crime. We will be able not to repeat these mistakes.

- And from the point of view of transport, traffic flows?

- Yekaterinburg does not even have a share of the resources for transportation that Moscow has. Accordingly, there will be no miracles. What they give us for the 2018 World Cup will be. Underground parking is a good solution to the problem. The mayor's office fights mercilessly for them.

About the expansion of Yekaterinburg builders

- Last fall, an official from Chelyabinsk called the mayor's office, - Vyacheslav Trapeznikov continues to tell. - He asked if there was a developer in Yekaterinburg who could build a building with 25 floors. We laughed and realized that we don't have any developers who couldn't handle it.…

- So local developers have plans for "high-altitude" expansion in the Urals?

- If it's an expansion, then it's on unique objects. Today, our builders are represented quite massively throughout the Greater Urals. In the field of unique and high-rise buildings, we have such competence that allows us to advance throughout Russia. We are convinced of this and therefore decided to hold an International Skyscraper Forum, which will be held in Yekaterinburg on September 24-26, 2014. We will make this forum the most prestigious annual event in the field of skyscraper construction in Russia. It will collect all the practice of high-rise construction in the country. The forum will show that it is not necessary to hire foreigners for construction – Turks, Bulgarians, Croats. It's expensive and problematic. There used to be such a fashion in Yekaterinburg – to invite foreigners. It ended the same way at all the facilities - they didn't work out, and ours had to complete the construction. By the way, there are no facilities rented by foreigners in Yekaterinburg.