At first sight, it might be difficult to notice signs of the coronavirus pandemic while walking in downtown Kyiv: People are back on the streets, cafes and restaurants are open and public transportation and stores are working.
The city has reopened and become as lively and bustling as before COVID-19. But only at first sight.
Since the government imposed a nationwide quarantine back in March in an attempt to curb the spread of novel coronavirus, thousands of Kyiv businesses were forced to shut their doors.
Many of them couldn’t survive the lockdown. Hundreds of empty premises have appeared all around the city. They used to host eateries, private companies, shops, beauty salons and more. Now they sport bright “for rent” signs.
The pandemic has had an eerie effect on downtown Kyiv. Life continues as normal, but — if you look close enough — the city center can at times resemble a ghost town.
“The crisis hit hard,” says Oleksandr Shtelin, co-founder of the real estate company Kyivstones. “Many businesses have already closed, freeing up premises for rent.”
Street retail failing
Shtelin, who has worked in the real estate industry since 2009, says he has never seen so many “for rent” signs and empty storefronts in the city center.
“The coronavirus pandemic is destroying the retail real estate market in Kyiv,” Shtelin says.
Every case is different: Some companies decided to close their offices, preferring remote work. Others closed for good, he says.
Many businesses decided to move out of the capital’s downtown, preferring the cheaper rent options on the outskirts. Some are still waiting for better times and hope to reopen by fall.
The result is a lot of available commercial real estate. “The current supply outstrips demand,” Shtelin says.
A man repairs the facade of a building with a “for rent” sign on the balcony on Velyka Vasylkivska Street in Kyiv on July 7, 2020 (Volodymyr Petrov)
Previously, retail rents in the city center cost $40-50 per square meter, and sometimes up to $100.
“It is hard to say the exact price now, since the owners of the premises are eager to make big discounts, sometimes up to 40% of the price,” Shtelin says.
Offices for rent now cost $10 or less per square meter. Prior to that, it was $20 and higher, according to Shtelin.
Even with prices so low, there is not enough demand to keep these premises occupied.
Ghost city
“For rent” signs are everywhere now: On the balconies of old buildings, in the windows, on the doors and walls. Some of them hang on top of the old signboards, attracting passersby of the busy streets.
On Saksaganskogo Street alone in downtown Kyiv, one can find dozens of newly vacant premises with “for rent” signs.
The legendary Secunda (Second) chain of watch stores, which has operated since 1992, has closed one of its 17 stores on this street.
“It was one of our first stores in Kyiv,” says Andrii Ostrohliad, CEO of Secunda.
Secunda closed the store for reconstruction before the quarantine in March. But once the government allowed reopening, the store remained closed. The company has yet to decide whether it will reopen.
There is a big “for rent” sign right near the store, after some companies moved their offices out of the same building. And more newly-vacant offices — big and small, furnished and unfurnished, in old and new buildings — are also up for rent along Saksaganskogo Street.
Olga Syzganova, who owns a yoga and meditation center in the area, says the crisis has taught her to be more creative in business and transfer almost all her activities online.
She decided to offer a part of her premises for rent as massage rooms. She has already found a renter for one of the rooms and is still looking for more entrepreneurs interested in such an offer.
A giant green “for rent” sign covers a whole window in the same building where Syzganova’s center is located. It used to be a dry-cleaning shop, but is closed now.
A woman wearing a medical mask walks by a building with a “for rent” sign in its window on Baseina Street in Kyiv on July 7, 2020. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Kyiv’s central Khreshchatyk Street has also lost some of its residents recently.
Chinese tech company Huawei closed its only retail store in Kyiv, located on Khreschatyk.
The company, however, says it was a strategic decision and they had been planning to close the store long before the pandemic.
The Huawei store was closed at the beginning of April after quarantine started. The premises where it was located are still empty, with no signs on the outdoor facade.
The area near Lva Tolstogo metro station has seen some changes as well.
Some clothing stores have moved out of the building right near the metro on Velyka Vasylkivska Street. Several offices above the restaurants and shops on Lva Tolstogo Street are also vacant, seeking out new renters.
“The premises, which are empty now, will not remain vacant for good,” Shtelin says.
But the changes are most noticeable when it comes to the Kyiv restaurant scene.
Restaurant apocalypse
Over the last several months, the restaurant industry has seen a crisis like never before. For many restaurants, quarantine cut revenue in half and takeout orders became the only option to make money.
Others had to close for good.
Kyiv restaurant chain Zheltok (Egg Yolk), for instance, didn’t survive the crisis. All its restaurants closed down, including its well-known eatery near the Taras Shevchenko Park. It used to be popular among students at the nearby university.
Right near Zheltok is another abandoned eatery: Inzhyr (Fig). No signs of life there, too.
Dogs and Tails, which served hotdogs and cocktails, on Shota Rustaveli Street closed as well. So did the Budu Pozzhe (I’ll Drop By Later) bar near the lively Besarabsky Market.
All of them did not survive the quarantine crises.
But according to Shtelin, every crisis also offers some opportunities for development and improvement.
Stanislav Ivanov, the head of the evaluation and consulting department of CBRE Ukraine, says now is the right time for owners of real estate in Kyiv to improve the quality of the products they offer.
“The demand has decreased and, to attract new clients, the owners have to make their premises more attractive,” Ivanov says.
Looking for solutions
Some businesses, however, had to change their entire concepts to survive the crisis.
Kyiv restaurant Beef & Beer was established a year before lockdown. It has become a successful eatery located in Kyiv’s historic Podil neighborhood.
But when the quarantine started, the restaurant’s founders decided not to waste their time and closed the venue for renovations.
“We realized that the crisis would change the market and decided to adjust,” says co-founder Vlada Kozina.
When the government finally allowed restaurants to reopen their indoor premises in late June, the old eatery reopened as two new venues — meat restaurant Ugolek (Coal) and Pizza Factory.
Kozina says she did not want to give up the “amazing premises” on Sahaidachnoho Street and did everything possible to keep their business alive.
“We did not want to lose what we had. Therefore, we decided to stay there and change the place completely,” Kozina says.
According to her, their landlords helped them a lot. They agreed on a discount and let the restaurateurs not pay rent during the quarantine.
“We are extremely lucky. I know that many restaurants had to close for good or suffered a lot because of rent payments,” Kozina says.
Despite the vacant premises and new business in downtown Kyiv, experts expect the city center to bounce back.
“Kyiv witnessed many crises and revolutions and none of them could change the architecture and atmosphere of the city center,” Ivanov says. “Some new venues may appear, some may close. But in general, the appearance of the capital’s center will remain the same.”
