Moscow: Office Slowdown? No, 'Rents...Are Ridiculous'

There's the office market in most major European cities. And then there's Moscow.

While office rents in many cities are stagnating or dropping, in Moscow their rapid rise shows no sign of slowing. With demand outstripping supply of modern office space and the country's economy chugging along, the average cost of occupying prime space rose to $232.37 per square foot per year in the first quarter compared with $120.56 in the first quarter of 2007, according to a global survey by real-estate services group CB Richard Ellis Inc.

The long-term trend has been even more impressive. The average cost of prime office space in Moscow -- including local taxes and fees and taking into account currency fluctuations -- has risen almost fourfold from a low of $61 a square foot in 2001. It is now just below the same type of space in London's West End, according to CB Richard Ellis. The choicest locations are hoping to push even higher, with at least one building in the central business district asking rents in the $300-a-square-foot range, according to Adam Sherriff-Scott, CBRE's senior director and head of office services in Russia. To read more click here.

By MAURA WEBBER SADOVI
June 25, 2008