The "NEST" company for more than twenty years holds a leading position in the real estate market of Ukraine. Over the long years of activity, she has gained a reputation as a reliable and stable developer. And in the next few years, NEST plans to continue active development and gaining new positions in two key areas - development and operation of real estate.

Currently, the company’s portfolio includes business centers and residential complexes with a total area of ​​570,000 m2. Over the next 3-5 years, NEST will continue the active development of real estate development, as a result of which the company's project area will increase due to the commissioning of new A-class office real estate and deluxe-class housing. Among the company's projects is the restoration of ancient buildings on the street. Pushkinskaya in Kiev - "Michelson's Estate" and the creation on their base of residential apartments of elite real estate with a total area of ​​about 12,000 m2.

At the joint NEST sites, together with Greenville, they are implementing 2 multifunctional residential complexes - Greenville Park Kiev and Greenville in Pechersk, each with 100,000 m2. Also, in the coming years, a residential complex in Lviv will be jointly commissioned.

The office real estate objects created by the company include a class A business center with a total area of ​​14,000 m2 located in the historical part of Kiev. In addition, in the next few years, the project of revitalizing the Gamma enterprise into a major cultural and technological hub in Zaporizhia will be fully implemented.

“In addition to the construction of new office buildings, the plans include the reconstruction of all dilapidated objects and the refinement of the territory of the former factory,” said Ilya Velichko, Chief Commercial Officer of NEST.

The second key direction of the company's development for the coming years is the operation of real estate. Currently, NEST includes several entities involved in servicing their own projects. Two companies “Zhitlo comfort service” and “Status” serve more than 2000 apartments in the business class of the premium segment of residential real estate. In addition, "NEST" provides the operation of another 100 apartments for the company "Geos".

For many years now, the NEST Plus management company has been successfully operating in the office real estate segment, which is engaged in servicing its own office centers. According to Ilya Velichko, the company is interested in further developing the business of operating premium residential and office real estate, therefore, it intends to increase the amount of space under management. “We have everything for this: experience, material and technical base and a staff of highly qualified specialists,” the head emphasized.

In the coming years, in the heart of the Ukrainian capital will appear about 20,000 m2 of luxury residential real estate in the historical part of the city. New unique residential apartments will be created by NEST after the completion of the ambitious restoration project of the Michelson Manor on Pushkinskaya street. The estate, which was built over a hundred years ago by a well-known businessman and developer of that time, will be restored and converted into deluxe-class residential real estate.

The "NEST" company, having in its portfolio many iconic projects, in particular, recreated from photographs and archival drawings of business center "Renaissance" on the Vorovskogo street wants to give Kiev residents and guests of the capital the opportunity to admire the Michelson Manor in the form in which it was conceived by the legendary architect Viktor Sychugov in the distant 1884. Given that the house was built according to all the canons of the Neo-Renaissance, so popular among the metropolitan architects of that time, the city will receive a truly aesthetically attractive object. And behind the authentic facade, the company intends to create ultra-modern deluxe-class housing for potential investors: with the appropriate internal infrastructure, communication solutions, smart house format technologies, its own service department and a park area in the courtyard. Also, for the first time for the capital real estate market of the deluxe category, all apartments for sale will be offered already with a repair, which will be carried out by leading European design bureaus. "Michelson's Manor" on the 35-37 Pushkinskaya street meets the key needs of buyers who are interested in buying not just square meters, but unique apartments, saturated with the spirit of the history of the great city. Even for its time, the estate was special. It’s not in vain that Friedrich Mikhelson himself, who initiated the creation of many houses in the central part of Kiev, chose this particular mansion for his own family,” emphasizes the advantages of the project Ilya Velichko, Commercial Director of NEST.

The exceptional location in the center of Kiev, the one and a half century history of the building and high comfort combined with technological effectiveness make this project outstanding among all residential real estate in Ukraine. In fact, we are talking about the house that the aristocrats of the century before last bestowed upon the aristocrats of the present century.” The company is confident in the success of the project. Since there are not so many truly conceptual breakthroughs in residential real estate, including in the luxury segment. From this point of view, the Michelson Manor stands out uniquely from other offers and will become a landmark project for the entire industry. Currently, the "NEST" company at the facility is undergoing preparatory work. Moreover, each of the steps, thanks to the transparent office methodology, is coordinated with the residents of the quarter between Pushkinskaya, Lev Tolstoy, Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya and Taras Shevchenko Streets. The active stage of restoration will begin next year, and the commissioning of the project is scheduled for 2022-2023

Currently, «NEST» is actively building «A» сlass business center with a total area of about 13,000 m2 on 12Mikhailovskaya street. The new facility is located in the heart of Kiev and will become another decoration of the city, since the architecture of the facade of the building will be made in the historical style of the capital of Ukraine.

Following the wise saying “it’s better to see once than hear a hundred times”, we decided to visit the construction site of the new business center. Plot on the Mikhailovskaya street met with the classic noise of a construction site: the sounds of a drill and welding, the roar of a punch, the sound of metal and the hum of motors. Even at the entrance to the construction site, it becomes clear that life at the facility is in full swing - you can see cranes, cars, construction equipment and many workers. Currently, a three-level underground parking is fully prepared. And in the ground part up to the 6th floor, a monolithic reinforced concrete frame of the building is made. At the same time, high-rise builders intensively fill the frame of the next floor. In addition, from the 1st to the 3rd floor, brickwork of the internal and external walls is carried out. Also, the facility made connections to city water supply and sewerage networks, preparations are underway for connection to city heating networks. In parallel, engineering communications are being carried out.

According to Ilya Velichko, commercial director of the «NEST» company, already at the end of this month, interior finishing work will begin in the three-level underground parking. “In early аugust of this year, the construction of a monolithic frame of the building will be completely completed and roofing work will begin. All construction work will be fully completed in March 2020 according to the schedule,” the manager concluded.

In recent years, raiding as a forceful method of influencing a business has complicated the work of many construction companies. Despite calls for legal negotiations, the actions of raiders or so-called activists not only impede the development of domestic enterprises, but also undermine the authority of Ukraine at the international level. The NEST company, occupying a leading position in the construction market, also faced raider seizures of its facilities. Alexey Poletukha, CEO of NEST, spoke about ways to combat illegal actions disguised as attacks by activists.

When and how did the company face raiding?

Over the past years, we, like most metropolitan developers, have come across such a negative phenomenon as raiding. Often it is expressed in a targeted attack on a business or on a construction site in order to obtain undue profit by the people who are behind the raiders. And, unfortunately, recently such situations have become much more frequent. At the same time, the raiders disguise themselves under various “masks”: civic activists, participants in Euromaidan, “fighters” for the interests of residents of the quarter, and the like. Unfortunately, there are a lot of “masks”, but one essence is the desire to get profit by any means and block the work of construction companies. Moreover, in recent years, raiding has become a kind of shadow business, which is actively developing in Ukraine.

What is the negative impact of raiding on companies and the market as a whole?

First of all, in such a situation, the construction business is forced to develop not planned. In addition, from a transparent management system, construction seems to go into the “shadow”, since developers are forced to negotiate, give bribes, which leads to corruption. And instead of legally working and making the city beautiful, it is necessary to divert the resource to creating contractual relations that bring only evil. For the resources spent on bribes, it would be possible to improve the territories, parking lots and infrastructure. What methods do raiders choose to influence the business? The first method is based on an appeal to the deputies with whom they are associated. The second way to influence is to organize demonstrations with paid participants who go to the construction site and block construction work. Another method is based on the creation of various "attacks" on developers in the press. As you can see, the complex of these measures shows that the raiders are professionally trained, have the legal skills and ability to organize paid mass shares. Unfortunately, we see examples of such attacks on business on almost all construction sites where people come to extort money. Therefore, in fact, raiders are extortionists who must be in prison. However, sometimes law enforcement agencies take their side. And this is the most dangerous, since in this case the enterprise’s activity is 100% blocked. Sometimes officials themselves become raiders, who block the issuance and approval of documentation without paying bribes. In other words, the presence of a clear urban development policy will allow developers to receive documents and safely go to their construction sites as part of the overall development policy of the city.

What effective mechanisms has NEST developed to deal with this phenomenon?

Like most developers, we faced various raider attacks. For example, at our facility on the Pushkinskaya street is a local raider who constantly attacks us with letters, appeals to law enforcement agencies, etc. Over the past few years several inspections and a criminal case have been initiated at his request, which was closed due to the lack of structure crime. Nevertheless, this man continues to write deliberate lies and slander, trying to make himself a “fighter” for the interests of the residents of the quarter, although no residents stand behind him. This is one of the manifestations of raiding. So-called activists who tried to damage the equipment and remove it went to other sites. In this case, the only honest way to fight is to contact the police and the availability of documents to start construction. Of course, we had all the documents, respectively, all the raider attacks were repelled without complaints from state bodies and public organizations. In principle, it is the state that should be the only body that verifies the legality of construction. And if the company operates within the framework of the legislative and construction framework, has all the permits, it should not have any problems. At the same time, of course, a clear interaction between the legal and security services should be established within companies. Thus, their well-coordinated work is a mechanism for combating and preventing raider attacks.

What needs to be changed in the market for the disappearance of raiding in Ukraine?

Frankly speaking, if the raiders did not have patrons in power and they were not indulged by some corrupt officials, the problems that we see today would never have arisen. And now, first of all, it is necessary that the police clearly respond and suppress all cases and attempts of raiding. To do this, there should be an increase in state power and the work of the law enforcement system regarding the protection of business, not “activists”. And the police and prosecutors are obliged to defend a business that provides jobs and pays taxes

Kiev is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, because over the course of fourteen centuries it has formed a unique and unique look. The city is rich in monuments of church and civil architecture. Many buildings in the central part of the metropolis constitute an ensemble of unique architectural solutions and are classified as World Cultural Heritage Sites. However, unlike European cities, buildings in Kiev that have historical value are often in abandoned condition. According to experts, restoration and restoration requires more than 150 buildings in Kiev, dating from the middle of the XVIII to the beginning of the XX century. The "NEST" company is one of the few with practical experience in applying modern technologies for the restoration of architectural monuments that enhance the structural, operational qualities and durability of historical objects. Ilya Velichko, Commercial Director of «NEST», told how architectural monuments can be preserved and converted into high-tech facilities.

What, in your opinion, is the architectural heritage of the capital of Ukraine?

Kiev has its own unique look, since more than 30 architectural styles of various eras form its architectural phenomenon. Absolutely authentic architecture of Kiev is strikingly different from any other cities of the tsarist era. This is due to the fact that it was formed in the XVIII-XIX centuries, in the so-called heyday of Kiev. Therefore, merchants and mayors of that time could afford the rich decoration of buildings. In addition, the development of any city is closely connected with historical events, time periods, the economy, the influence of other cultures, and Kiev was no exception. The city on the slopes of the Dnieper has always united various nationalities and religions, all of which are also reflected in architecture. As a result, the heritage of Kiev is very diverse. In this city you can admire the architecture of Kievan Rus and Byzantium, the Doric and Moorish styles, the Renaissance, Baroque, Gothic, modern, constructivism, as well as examples of Soviet and post-Soviet architecture. And, despite the fact that many buildings have been lost over time, now existing ones are deservedly assigned to the objects of world cultural heritage. You said that some of the architectural monuments are lost. Why did this happen? There are many reasons for this, among which the main one is outdated legislation, which does not allow creating a fully new building in the old guise. Therefore, problems arise during the restoration of architectural objects. For example, in some foreign countries, you can leave the facade wall, which carries the main architectural heritage and a visual message for a person. At the same time, the inside of the building can be built completely new. Then, taking into account modern technologies, it is absolutely possible to create a monolithic-frame part and attach it to the saved facade. Thus, we preserve the architectural monument, transforming it into a high-tech building. Such an object, having modern engineering and maintenance, will not only be interesting to a future resident, but will continue to delight the eyes of all residents and guests of the capital. However, while in our country it is necessary to leave the old internal walls and the old layout, which does not allow for efficient engineering and comfortable interior spaces that meet the requirements of the client. This applies to both residential and commercial real estate. Although this problem is more acute in office buildings, because today people are accustomed to cold rooms, certain lighting standards and the depth of spaces. Thus, it is practically impossible to make high-quality office premises out of the buildings of the tsarist era.

However, the NEST company has experience in the reconstruction of the Renaissance business center. How did you manage to restore the old building?

Yes, we have a great example of the adaptation of an industrial building of the Soviet era from which the Renaissance business center was created. It used to be the first commercial school. The building was built in 1897 by the architect and engineer G.P. Shleifer. And already in 1920-1923, a superstructure was made in it. Until 1903, it housed classrooms and faculties of the Polytechnic Institute. Frankly, in the process of its restoration we faced a lot of difficulties. Firstly, from a purely economic point of view, reconstruction was very expensive. At the end of the work, we considered that we could build two buildings for the same budget. In addition, due to the fact that the buildings had a very wide inner wall with a thickness of one meter, later we had constant conflicts with tenants, because they complained about the incorrect calculation of the rented area. In other words, the need to leave thick exterior walls often makes it impossible to restore the object and build a modern building inside the old shell. However, despite all the difficulties, we managed to make a Class B business center with a building management system, ventilation and air conditioning. To do this, everything was cleaned inside, a reinforced concrete ceiling was completely made around the perimeter, the facade was put in perfect condition, and the whole territory was landscaped. We are glad that today people work there with pleasure.

In addition to the architectural part of historical buildings, in your opinion, what else is worth paying attention to?

Of course, it is very important to maintain the identity and uniqueness of buildings. For example, we still do not have a culture of painting facades, which exists in the same Prague, where the central streets are completely restored and the facades are painted in the same style. Alas, no one has yet followed this practice in Kiev. Let's say in our business center on the Mikhailovskaya street, 12 in Kiev, which we are now building in historical style, the first floors of the facade are made in green. However, if you look at the whole street, you will see that it is very colorful: on the one hand, completely orange, and on the other - green. Therefore, it is necessary that the city hall centrally restore the facades and monitor compliance with uniform color schemes. In addition, it is advisable to introduce new faster and more reliable technologies for the restoration of architectural monuments. Then the mission to restore and transform architectural monuments into high-tech facilities will become an honor for each construction company, and most importantly - feasible.

The NEST company took an active part in the International IT Forum 2019, which was held in Zaporozhye at the Kozak-Palace exhibition complex. Within the framework of the Forum, an innovative project for revitalizing the former plant, Gamma, was presented to participants and guests of the event. The stand aroused keen interest of investors and representatives of IT companies who appreciated the unique location and concept of the project in the context of the placement of commercial premises on the territory of the Gamma Center. The revitalization of the old Gamma in Zaporozhye is of great importance for the city and its residents, since a modern space of more than 46,000 m2 is being created on the site of industrial territories. The developers of the Gamma project concept are the well-known architectural company FORMA Architectural Studio. Another partner of NEST in this project is the KOTSIUBA Landscape Architecture Studio. Specialists of the studio, headed by Maxim Kotsyuba, are actively developing the atmosphere of the internal space as part of work on the revitalization of the former industrial zone. The updated and improved courtyard with a unique landscape design will be freely available for all residents and guests of Zaporozhye. As a result of the comprehensive work of the Gamma Center, it will not only decorate, but also revive the city, adding to it a new active street with commercial areas, which will be a continuation of the city’s existing trade artery. This innovative project provides for the creation of such functional areas for the development of the urban environment as office, retail, training and wellness facilities. “Within 3 years, a place will be created on the territory of the plant not only for comfortable working conditions, but also for leisure guests of Zaporozhye,” Ilya Velichko, commercial director of NEST, emphasized during the event. “Coworking, educational centers, sports and health clubs, food courts, shopping areas, shops, movie clubs, supermarkets and a hotel will be located here.”

October 17, 2019 a round table was held on the topic "Office real estate in Kiev: a paradigm shift." Ilya Velichko, Commercial Director of NEST, took an active part in this event. During the discussion of the situation on the office real estate market, the head noted that the rate of provision of office space in Kiev is significantly lower compared to other European cities. At the same time, an increase in demand from tenants, a decrease in vacancy and an increase in rents indicate the potential of this market segment and the prospects for its development.
During the round table, organized by the B2B edition of Commercial Property, market experts evaluated the qualitative and quantitative indicators of the Ukrainian market of business centers. According to analysts, currently in Kiev, the supply of office space is about 0.4 m2 per person, while, for example, in Warsaw this figure is 1.4 m2. “In other words, the availability of office space in Ukraine is one of the lowest in Europe, even Kiev is significantly behind other European cities,” Ilya Velichko emphasized. At the same time, according to the results of the current year, the average vacancy rate in Kiev decreased to 6.2%. This is due to the fact that for several consecutive years the offer of new business centers on the market was minimal, and those premises that were commissioned were absorbed relatively quickly due to the development of the IT industry in Ukraine and the activities of outsourcing companies. At the same time, as the head noted, the leaders in popularity among tenants are high-quality class A business centers located in the central areas of the capital that meet such requirements as a well-thought-out concept, the presence of a large parking lot, excellent views, modern engineering systems, etc. “Proof of this is the demand from tenants for our Hillfort Business Mansion class A on the street. Mikhailovskaya, 12, which is in the active phase of construction. In 2020, we plan to commission the facility, but now we are signing precontracts,” Ilya Velichko said.
Thus, this year's trends in the office real estate market of Kiev confirm a paradigm shift and demonstrate a shift in emphasis from the tenant market to the market of business center owners. Against this background, developers are intensifying their activity - they are completing frozen projects or planning to commission new modern facilities. However, as the head of NEST notes, despite the fact that there are currently a large number of land plots for the development of office centers, a shortage of funds and difficulties in attracting borrowed capital remain a limiting factor in the market.