Pik readies major housing scheme in southern Russia

Pik Group said on Wednesday it plans to develop 440,000 m² of housing in the Russian Black Sea city of Novorossiysk. The Russian residential developer, which raised EUR 1.3 bn earlier this year in Europe's largest IPO by a real estate firm, has acquired a 42-hectare plot in Novorossiysk for $25 mln (EUR 18 mln) for the project.

The local authorities plan to complete over one million m² of housing in the city by the end of 2010 in order to meet local demand. At least 20,000 families require rehousing in improved conditions, Pik said. The site overlooks the Black Sea and adjoins an existing Pik development named 'Southern Shore' that will provide 350,000 m² of housing. Novorossiysk is situated around 150 km from Sochi, the Black Sea port hosting the Winter Olympics Games in 2014. Kirill Pisarev, CEO of Pik said: 'This is a sizable acquisition, which enables us to build another major planned community in Russia. With this acquisition, we double the size of our developments in Novorossiysk and assume a leading development role in the city'.

Pik announced at the beginning of September that it had taken a controlling stake in Storm Properties, a Russian real estate company that has a 450,000 m² pipeline of office and retail projects in Moscow.