The commercial and retail real estate sector
Overview
Despite recent tough conditions in the real estate sector in Kazakhstan there still exists a large and upcoming middle class who are aspirational in their living standards. This is continuing to drive a desire for new and improved residential dwellings and for more and more retail outlets. This underlying consumer growth outweighs the downside risk largely created by the temporary starving-off of foreign funding following the global credit crunch. This is a testing time for investors, banks and government alike in Kazakhstan but also a possible healthy shakedown of the funding structures that support the overall real estate and retail sector.
Given the underlying growth driver of the growing oil and mineral industries within the country - and providing that foreign investor confidence can be maintained - the country's domestic real estate sector remains an impressive investment opportunity.
current case study
Development at Khimki, Moscow
Ms Ashkenazi is Chairman of Trendex Investments which is 25% stakeholder in the Khimki project.
Trandex Investments owns 95,000 square meters of land at Khimki harbor, 22 km from Red Square, Moscow, with planning permission and development rights for a 52 story, seven star luxury hotel with shopping centre, residential, business and entertainment facilities.
The Khimki will be the first seven star hotel in Europe.
Currently a number of internationally renowned architects are submitting plans for the development through a tender process and it is anticipated that the groundwork will commence in the spring of 2009 with completion of the project scheduled for 2012.
'The Khimki site is a fantastic and unique location because it has a riverside port which will enable people to get from the development to the centre of Moscow in under 7 minutes. Given the increasing traffic levels in the city these days, regular travellers will know what a huge advantage this will be!
Further to the hotel itself, we are planning to build a yacht club which we believe will be highly attractive to our clientele. This project will act as a unique destination for tourists and businesspeople coming from across the globe and I believe it will be a highly beneficial landmark attraction for the Moscow region.'
Gaukhar Ashkenazi