Interview with Yulia Nikulicheva, Deputy Director, Strategic Consulting and Evaluation Department, Jones Lang LaSalle.
– Please describe the general trends in the development of the construction of shopping and entertainment centers (SEC) in Moscow and Russia as a whole.
– Today, Moscow is far ahead of the Russian regions in terms of the quality and quantity of both existing shopping malls and those under construction, which need some time to catch up with the capital. The trend is to build first- and second-generation shopping malls, where department stores or hypermarkets (the so-called “anchor tenants”) act as the fulcrum. These are the standard formats of shopping malls that still exist in our country, unlike Western Europe and the USA, where there is already a wide variety of shopping mall formats (from parks and stock centers to large entertainment centers occupying fairly large areas). So far, such projects have not been widely developed in Russia due to the fact that, despite the willingness of end customers to support such centers, the operators themselves are often not ready to develop such concepts. But market trends are aimed at Moscow first, and then all other regions, gradually starting to develop new shopping mall formats.
– Could you give examples of shopping malls that are the most “successful” in terms of implementing the idea as a whole?
– The thing is that each center implements its own idea and can be assessed from different positions. If we talk about Moscow, then in terms of the number of buyers, the most successful, so to speak, were the Atrium Shopping and Entertainment Complex on Zemlyanoy Val and the chain of stores of the Mega Family Shopping Center. These same complexes are leaders in the number of trademarks and brands attracted and placed on their territory. Here we can also mention Manezh and the Ramstore-City Shopping Center. However, when giving such assessments, we can only talk about Moscow and the Moscow Region today, since things are completely different in the regions. They have their own peculiarities and, naturally, as a consequence – retail projects.
It is curious that in the regions the above-mentioned Mega Family Shopping Center project can be noted as the most unsuccessful retail project. Regional developers create more successful local projects. Obviously, this is due to the fact that the so-called “local projects” take into account the specific characteristics of the region and its market situation.
– What engineering systems should be given special attention in the first place during design and further construction?
– First of all, emphasis should be placed on those systems that serve people, i.e. ventilation, heating and air conditioning.
Proper and sufficient lighting is of no small importance, which is necessary for the comfort of visitors, and is also very important for tenants (shop window lighting).
– How does the correct solution and implementation of engineering systems affect the overall economics of the project?
– It is worth mentioning separately the general specificity for all projects in this area of construction – to correctly plan the project as a whole so that in the future it maximally corresponds to the solution of the task at hand and brings comfort to the consumer, and benefits to the owners.
Since the market is rapidly growing and projects pay off quickly, many simply do not think about how important engineering systems are. In the West, they count every cent.
There are even special consulting companies that deal with such systems and plan engineering systems so that they allow for the most efficient use of resources, including taking into account the operating modes of facilities, the number of visitors, etc. In fact, this is a very important issue, because in this case we are talking not only about economic benefits. Firstly, engineering systems primarily affect the comfort of customers located on the territory of the shopping center, and their safety.
Secondly, the planning of shopping centers should imply the rational use of existing areas in order to obtain the greatest benefit from them when renting them out.
Accordingly, utility lines should be located so as not to take up extra space, and the area that can generate income should perform this function (for example, equipment can be moved to the roof (upper floor) or mounted on the basement level (underground floor)).
Very often we encounter a situation where engineering systems are located in the middle of the first floor in the most expensive place for renting out premises. This is absolutely wrong. In this case, we are faced with a problem when engineering systems not only will not generate income, but will also not pay off the investment and costs of their implementation.
– What difficulties should a developer be prepared for first of all when starting construction of a shopping center?
The first and main difficulty that a developer has to face is obtaining various permits and connecting networks.
An important factor today is the problem of the lack of qualified personnel on the labor market: from blue-collar workers to management personnel. There is a particularly acute shortage of engineering specialists.
– What, in your opinion, can and should be changed?
– Simplify the procedures for obtaining all permits, because often this process takes time comparable to the time spent on the construction of the facility as a whole.
– What regulatory documents are missing to make the process of building a shopping mall more efficient?
– Regulatory documentation must be clear and interpretable unambiguously. Despite the fact that some issues (especially safety) are covered in great detail, at the same time, in the existing and currently applied standards, GOSTs and other regulatory documents, there are sometimes individual provisions that can be read in different ways and, often, depending on who reads them, they will be built. This is a fundamentally wrong approach, especially when it comes to the construction of facilities related to servicing people.
– What can serve as an impetus for the development of automation of shopping malls in Russia?
– I think that first the market should be saturated, and then we can talk about it.
– And when will it be saturated?
– I think that this will take at least five years.
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