Building Permits for New Moscow Issued

After a delay of more than one year, developers can now restart existing projects or break ground on new ones.

Developers have started to receive construction permits for projects located in the area of expanded Moscow for the first time since the territory was officially made part of the city last summer.

The investment and development company Investtrust was the first to receive the green light on its New Moscow project, according to information from real estate firm Metrium Group. The company is building a residential complex called Noviye Vatutinki, 14 kilometers southwest of the Moscow Ring Road, and has not been able to start work on the latest phase of construction due to the absence of a permit.

Other developers have also had to delay starting work on new projects or continuing sections of existing projects for more than a year as officials undertook a comprehensive review of all new building plans on the territory.

There were many construction projects to audit and few government employees to do this work, so the review process crept along at a slow pace, said Alexander Zubets, general director of Noviye Vatutinki. Another challenge was that some of the audit standards were not worked out in advance and were only finalized during the review process.

But Investtrust's permit is seen as a sign that other developers will soon be getting their permits.

«The treasure chest has been opened,» Zubets said. «New Moscow has finally reached the next stage of its development. Thus, in the near future, we can expect the arrival of even more new housing projects.»

In anticipation of the redistricting, developers bought up land and started new housing projects on the territory that would eventually become expanded Moscow before the annexation entered into force. The number of square meters of residential housing in New Moscow has more than doubled since the territory was expanded, although no new construction permits were issued after the annexation.

Andrei Makhonin