DEOL Partners brokers of one of the biggest deals in 2006-the sale of the Leonardo Business Center

DEOL Partners, the exclusive agent of the Leonardo Business Center, confirmed that the property has been acquired by the Quinn Group, an Irish company.  Leonardo Business Center is the best Class A office center in Ukraine today, and is located at the intersection of Bohdan Khmelnytskoho and Volodymyrska Streets.

Ruslan Oleksenko, Founder and Managing Partner of DEOL Partners, reported: ‘This event points to the beginning of a new era of professionalism for the operators on Ukraine’s commercial real estate market. The seller was able to appreciate the advantages of professional brokerage and investment management, and agreed to accept the Leonardo sale strategy worked out by DEOL Partners. After the preparatory work, we selected the buyer from a list of potential clients who most closely met the demands of this property. For the foreign investor, Leonardo was presented in the same manner found in mature markets. A financial investment model of the property prepared by our company’s certified experts served as the basis for closing this transaction’.

Serhiy Piontkovsky, a Partner at Baker & McKenzie, which provided legal support to the transaction, commented: ‘Developing the legal structure for the purchase of this property, as well as conducting negotiations on the Sale and Purchase Agreement, were very difficult tasks, which our legal team handled excellently’.

Citing a signed confidentiality agreement, Ruslan Oleksenko and DEOL Partners team would not disclose the amount of the sale, but market analysts estimate that the deal was in the range of 70 to 100 million US Dollars.

As far as the Leonardo Business Center itself is concerned, it is the best A Class business center in Kyiv today. The base rental rate for office space is 44.50 to 50 US Dollars per sq. m. not including operating expenses and VAT. The rent of commercial space located on the first floor of the building is a record for Ukraine, at 125 – 230 US Dollars per sq. m. The Leonardo Business Center is built on the foundation of the reconstruction of the former Hotel Teatralna and an adjacent newly constructed building.

‘This year, quality will become a key factor in the competitive advantage of new business centers. The most significant A Class business center projects in the pipeline include the construction of a second Leonardo Business Center, as well as the Iceberg Business Center’ claim DEOL Partners’ experts.

With the growth in demand, the vacancy rate for professional premises in 2006 is expected to be a low 3 to 6 per cent. A decrease in rental rates is forecast for 2007-2008, though rents are expected to remain among the highest in Eastern and Central Europe.

The Leonardo Business Center www.deol-partners.com/leonardo is located in Kyiv’s Central Business District (‘CBD’) at the intersection of B. Khmelnytskoho and Volodymyrska Streets. The total floor space of the business center is 23,155 sq. m. and includes office and commercial spaces, a bank, a restaurant, and a fitness center. Leonardo’s office spaces accommodate leading worldwide and national companies, including Master Card, Reuters, Parker&Obolensky, Credit Suisse, ‘Forum’ Bank, and others.

DEOL Partners www.deol-partners.com is an expert in the field of commercial real estate in Ukraine. The company offers their clients a flexible package of services capable of meeting the clients’ needs and helping them to achieve their business goals. The company’s services include: brokerage services, transaction support, consulting, project management, corporate services, research and analytics, fund raising, and property appraisal.

DEOL Partners is one of the first players in the real estate market of Ukraine, having been accredited in international standards for commercial real estate investment management; it is a member of the International Urban Lands Institute (ULI) and the Central European Real Estate Associations Network (CEREAN).  At the last Ukrainian Realtors Association (URA) Convention, Ruslan Oleksenko was elected Head of the International Relations Committee.

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