Managing a mix-use CRE and site development project (Interim)

At the onset of the project, the Client, a leading Finnish construction company and developer, owned several adjacent land plots and commercial properties on them, all located in the vicinity of Okhta-Centre, projected Gazprom’s HQ office in St. Petersburg. Those land plots were intended for the construction of a multi-functional mix-use complex consisting of residential buildings, commercial real estate and a recreation zone. To proceed with the site development, the Client needed to resolve a number of issues related to acquiring extra properties and consolidating the land plots to be developed, ensuring the supply of water, heat and electricity, and optimizing the facility management of the properties operating on site.

Sergey Podobny, Investorium’s Managing Partner was given the position of Administrative Director in the Client’s head company and the position of General Director in a number of its affiliates in St. Petersburg. He acted as an Interim manager with the responsibility for consolidating the land plots and acquiring the assets owned by third-party investors, managing commercial, financial, legal and administrative blocks of the project and Client’s organization in St. Petersburg, and organizing the supervision of contractors and suppliers.

Another responsibility of the Administrative Director was to ensure accord with the district Government on the project approvals, as well as interaction with the Okhta Center project of Gazprom project on a number of common infra issues including those of power supply and transport infrastructure. The Interim manager was also responsible for reorganizing and streamlining the facility management of the CRE properties operating within the perimeter of the project (two office buildings, manufacturing and warehousing facilities).

By the end of the assignment, the project assets – both the land plots and the buildings within the project perimeter – were consolidated by the few legal entities under the Client’s head company control; the facility management function was outsourced in a tender-based procedure to a reputable international service provider, replacing the group of separate local contractors and suppliers. On top of that, a transparent tender procedure and corporate internal reporting system, including regular operating and financial reports to the Head company’ Management Board, were introduced. Eventually, SRV Group built Okhta Mall shopping centre on the project site.