lundi 23 février 2015

Moscow's flagship $12 billion financial district is a half-empty disaster

"Moscow's financial district is a little like the Russian government's international stature: on the surface gleaming and new and perhaps even a little intimidating."

But scratch just below the surface and it's mostly empty, with a lot of money wasted. The Moskva City complex contains Europe's tallest building, Mercury City Tower.

London's Shard comes in second place, but Moskva City also contains the next three tallest. It's just a shame that most of them are half-empty.

Offices are still being built, so the vacancy rate doesn't seem likely to go down anytime soon.
At the end of last year The Times called the district "a $12 billion reminder of the nation's economic woes." 

Russia's economic crisis is hitting its financial centre hard. Banks have been particularly damaged by the crumbling ruble and the sudden slump in oil prices.

And that slump is coming at the worst possible time, when there are more buildings being completed than ever. Six are meant to be completed this year, followed by another two in 2016. 

Read more: The government first started planning the district in the early 1990s, when Russian was just emerging from the Soviet system, but the first building was not finished until 2001.

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