AFI sells Moscow office building for EUR 133m

London-listed Russia-based AFI Development, a subsidiary of Africa Israel Investments, has announced the sale of the Aquamarine II office building in central Moscow for $207mln (EUR 133mln). The implied exit yield was 6.8%. The 16,372 m² nine-storey Class A office building has a leasable area of 12,678.5 m². It is part of the second phase of the Ozerkovskaya Embankment project, which also includes residential and hotel components, and will total 66,000 m².

The entire Ozerkovskaya Embankment mixed-use development will consist of four phases and total 185,000 m². AFI Development sold the 12,788 m² Aquamarine I office building in 2005 for $54.2mln (EUR 34.5mln). The third phase includes a Class A office building and residential premises with a gross building area of 75,500 m² while the fourth phase will be the redevelopment of an existing administrative building and the development of a 30,820 m² Class A office. Aquamarine II is fully let to a single tenant and generates annual rental income of $14mln (EUR 9mln).

Alexander Khaldey, CEO of AFI Development, commented: 'We are delighted to finalise this transaction at such a significant premium to the previous valuation, which demonstrates the continued strength of the letting and investment market in Moscow and the quality of our projects. It also suggests further yield compression and the expectation of further rental growth in Moscow from large tenants, while the supply of class A office space remains limited. This sale shows our ability to implement value-creating projects. It is in line with our strategy of exiting completed projects where appropriate and reinvesting the cash into high returns projects in Russia and the CIS.'