More than 45 percent of 100,000 Ukrainian information technology specialists are concentrated in Kyiv. The fact that there are so many of them affects not just the IT industry of the country but other sectors.
One of these is the property market.
The potential for IT companies to grow in a politically and economically turbulent Ukraine tells property developers that the firms could be a smart bet. Publicly owned agricultural holding Astarta is one of them. Come September, it will open a 45,700 square meter business center with IT companies as its main audience.
“The IT industry is very fast moving in Ukraine,” Yuliia Shchaslyva, rent director at Business Center Astarta, told the Kyiv Post.
The business center will be open for any company, regardless of industry, but IT firms are more likely to expand and seek a new office. And, Shchaslyva hopes, these companies will opt for Astarta Business Center, located in Podil, the historic center of Kyiv.
One of the country’s top seven IT companies has already hammered out a deal with the business center. According to software developer community DOU.ua, it may be an IT company that hires from 1,300 to 4,600 staffers across Ukraine.
The offices in the business center can fit 5,200 people.
The construction process, taken by the State Construction Works under the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, consists of three stages. On Sept. 30, two of them will be completed. According to the Shchaslyva, the first stage of the development is already 80 percent occupied by tenants while the second one is 30 percent occupied.
Astarta claims to be an A-class building (not B or C), although Schastlivaya admits that Ukraine has no precise classification model for commercial property.
The class of an office building is usually determined by its location, engineering characteristics, the amount of natural light inside the premises, the operational work of reception, elevators, and availability of parking places.
Among features that may help Astarta become A-class, Shchaslyva lists the amount of natural light in the premises, 19 elevators, and location in Podil. Apart from this, the center will have a first floor with amenities: banks, coffee shops, a canteen and gym, notary public offices, travel agencies, a nursery and even a dentist’s office. There, one parking lot with 100 square meters of rentable area is planned.
Tenants will also be able to change the design of the space they rent.
Rent is dependent on the floor number.
“The higher, the pricier. Especially it relates to us as we have a view of the Dnipro, Podil and even St. Andrew’s Church,” says Shchaslyva, naming famous Kyiv sights.
Astarta’s rental prices range from $16 to $20 per square meter, without value-added tax. The retail zone on the first floor will cost more. The companies there will additionally pay running costs of $4-$5 per square meter without VAT.
But Shchaslyva says the price may change.
“There are always risks regardless of what structure you’re building,” she said. “We will certainly fill out the space. The question is about the price,” and about how fast the investor expects to profit.
Shchaslyva would not talk about the cost.
“I’d rather not talk about the investments and payback, because our investors are still pouring money into the development. The numbers will distort the situation.”
“We aren’t sticking to the budget,” she continued. “We’re trying to create a product that will be comfortable for people who will work here. If we name the number today, the specialists will say that we are building cheap.”
