"We are very pleased that so many distinguished tenants havechosen to move their office premises to Khimki Business Park," saysMats Nilsson, IKEA's head of leasing for the project. A similar15-story structure recently broke ground and is slated foroccupancy by early 2008. "The list of prospective tenants is long,"says Nilsson of the next availability. In addition to thehalf-dozen office buildings, the 1.3-million-sf park will alsofeature two hotels and a conference center.

The park is located along one of Moscow's main highways,Leningradskoe shosse, and is a short distance to SheremetyevoInternational Airport. Colliers International associate directorNatalia Moskalenko notes there are also several infrastructureimprovements being made to improve roadway access, with completionslated for 2009 when Khimki Business Park is nearing full buildout. IKEA's "impeccable reputation" as a developer and compliancewith high building standards "make the park attractive to itspotential clients," says Moskalenko. The pedigree of the initialoccupants should also help draw interest, she adds, and IKEA isplanning to put its Moscow offices in the first building aswell.

Various trends should help foster growth at Khimki BusinessPark, according to Paul Blackman, the Russian regional director forColliers International. Having seemingly shaken off the woes thatgripped the city following Russia's 1998 financial crisis, Moscowenjoyed a record year for office leasing in 2006, he says, and ison pace to break that mark of 1.3 million sf absorbed thanks to arobust first half of 2007. The park also has a reduced rental ratecompared to space in Downtown Moscow, says Blackman, who relaysthat many firms are assessing whether back-office operations can beshipped to outer locations. That anticipated stream of demand waspart of the strategy for leasing up Khimki Business Park,Moskalenko concurs.