Timothy Post.com

If you do not live in Moscow, the name, Araz Agalarov (51), may not yet be familiar to you. It will be soon. Mr. Agalarov is a Moscow-based real estate developer who has built a number of projects which despite initial skepticism of their financial viability have then gone on to exceed all expectations. His first major project in Moscow was a super high-end shopping mall called Crocus City Mall.

Completed in 2002, many thought the idea of putting an elite mall along the outer ring road around Moscow ill advised. Would wealthy Moscovites want to fight traffic to drive to a shopping mall to buy their Prada, Armani, Gucci? Mr. Agalarov thought so and it turns out he was correct.

Crocus City Mall has since spawned a well-known brand called “Crocus” which, like the Trump brand, has been extended to a number of other projects. Since 2002, Mr. Agalarov has built a couple expo centers, a yacht club along the river, a hyper market, and a number of condominium buildings.

Yesterday, I had the chance to check-out Mr. Agalarov’s newest project which will be breath taking in its ambition and scope. The project will easily give Mr. Trump’s own Trump National a run for its money. The project, currently called Agalarov Estates Golf Club, which is about one third completed will be a super elite golf and country club community.

To give you an idea of how exclusive this community will be, the “starter homes” will go for about $10 million US dollars (not a typo) and the average home will be 10,000+ square feet. Even Moscow, the most expensive city in the world, has seen nothing like this before. Here’s a photo of one of the homes being built:

When you think of Agalarov Estates, think Hobe Sound or Ocean Reef but in Moscow. Instead of palm trees lining the grand drive to the clubhouse, Mr. Agalarov has planted hundreds of 50 foot soaring pine trees bare of branches until the final 10 foot tops. The trees were transplanted from special nurseries and are now anchored by support wires. Six wires per tree.

The community which sits on more than 300 hectares (2.6 acres per hectare) will truly be a luxury playground for the world’s power elite. There will of course be a championship 18 hole golf course designed by Cal Olsen Golf Architecture. Mr. Olsen may not be a household name outside of golfing circles but he has proven to be the perfect partner for the Agalarov development team.

One member of the development team, Emil Veliev (Assistant to President) explained to me that while some big name golf architects might fly in now and then to dictate a few cosmetic changes, Mr. Olsen has been involved on a personal level on every aspect of the course design.

The front nine should be ready for play in the Summer of 2008 while the back nine is being shaped currently. Stephen Alexander, a native of Sydney Australia, is the Golf Project Manager. It is obvious from looking at the course under construction that Mr. Alexander knows exactly how to translate Mr. Olsen’s designs into reality.

In addition to golf, the private community will have a 60,000 square foot clubhouse with ballroom, pro shop, wrap around patio, cart barn, catering facilities, indoor driving range with ball launch monitor, cigar bar, and this being Russia, a indoor shooting range.

There will be a full-service training and practice facility with a 350 meters driving range, short game area with sand traps, a practice putting green, and a Ladies Putting Club much like the one which uses the “Himalayas Putting Course” at St. Andrews in Scotland.

There is already a full-service fitness & tennis club with red clay tennis courts, spa, fitness center, and indoor astro-turfed playing field. A beach club on a large lake is nearing construction. There will be a children’s wading pool, 12 cabanas, and soft sand beach. For the more adventurous, there will be an equestrian center with riding paths throughout the property. For guests of the residents, there is a 50 room exclusive hotel.

The project would be spectacular anywhere in the world but this being Moscow it is also unprecedented. While a number of oligarchs are building themselves their own golf courses around Moscow, none has the scope and vision of Agalarov Estates. No expense has been spared. Actually, there isn’t really even a hard budget. There doesn’t need to be based on the price of the houses.

One expense which was not spared but has often been overlooked by other developers recently in Russia is landscaping. Often landscaping is an after thought and sometimes the aesthetics of a development are sacrificed to save money on construction (e.g. all the mature trees are cut down to make it easier for the heavy equipment to do its job). The person is charge of landscaping the whole community is Mike Clarke who worked with the Agalarov Group on doing the indoor landscaping of their mall and expo centers.

As we drove through the residential section of the community, Mr. Olsen pointed out a landscaping detail which I would have otherwise missed. Namely, all the homes have been individually graded. Some are higher than grade and some are lower. While seemingly insignificant, this landscaping detail is crucial. Too often in Russian residential developments the houses are built all on the same grade in a field. The result is visually unappealing. It gives the developments a feeling of cheapness. Agalarov Estates will hopefully encourage other developers in Russia to understand the importance of this landscaping detail.

I am glad to have had the chance to get a first-hand look at such a project. While we are aiming to build something along the lines of Agalarov Estates in Krasnodar, there is no way we will even begin to approach the level of that project. I would expect that the project will be 100% complete by the Summer of 2009 and I have no doubt that all the houses will have long before been spoken for by Russia’s elite.

I think even Donald Trump would be impressed!

(NOTE THE TREES)

// 07.18.2007 at 12:09 pm // Tagged real estate