Redevelopment — re-development of the site: creation of a new, more in-demand type of real estate on it. Redevelopment is not just a chance to "reboot" a real estate object or a plot of land from the point of view of business or profitability, but to radically change its ego and / or add a function. As it has already been done in a series of projects Smart Plaza, Mirax and many others...
Revitalization — one of the directions of redevelopment — is most often applied to former industrial enterprises, which once teemed with life, but today they turned out to be abandoned, excluded from the city. A distinctive feature of revitalization is the preservation of an attentive and careful attitude to the object of redevelopment, the preservation of the spirit of the place and the material memory of the past. A striking example is the revitalization of the territory of the Arsenal plant.
Author: Vitaly Boyko is the founder and CEO of Urban Experts and NAI Ukraine
But still, let's not focus too much on the terminology, but let's look at the final result. I suggest moving away from the perception of redevelopment projects from the point of view of volume and aesthetics, because, as they say, felt-tip pens have different tastes and colors. Instead, I propose to look at the redevelopment of industrial zones from the point of view of the advantages and opportunities that the city and the residents of the region can get from the creation of new clusters on the territory of not just abandoned, but also economically unprofitable enterprises.
Ukrainian developers are not recognized as pioneers in the field of transformation of frankly dead, but often constructively dangerous for others, into new, modern objects with often unique functions.
Let's understand the economics of such projects. The maximum level of profitability is provided by objects that have a wide variety of functions and services. That is why a competent master plan and design solutions provide not only a residential, but also a commercial component, educational institutions (ideally - the principle of lifelong education, i.e. the creation of educational centers for all categories of the population of all ages), public spaces (promenade areas, open embankments, places for entertainment and outdoor activities), places for cultural and mass events, cafes and restaurants, business centers and co-working areas. The real estate market relatively recently began to move to the concept of mixed-use complex (multifunctional complex), which is already... outdated.
Regeneration project of the industrial territory and shopping center zone in Basildon (Great Britain). Architectural studio — Leslie Jones Architecture
Against the background of the pandemic and changes in the interests (and values) of the target audience, changes in its lifestyle and priorities, blended-use projects that take into account the buyer's lifestyle are in increasing demand: they prefer to live, work, rest, and shop in one place. They increase the demand for affordable infrastructure in both urban and rural projects.
The developer is not so much interested in "planting square meters" on the territory at a fixed sale price, as in creating a full-fledged "city within the city", because each additional element of the infrastructure significantly increases the cost of realizable square meters.
Due to the presence of highly developed infrastructure and the availability of many functions within one territory, the price per square meter in such complexes is higher than in a similar detached real estate object in the same location by 30-80%, and in some cases even 200%! Therefore, not only citizens and residents of the conditional complex, but also the developer are interested in the development of objects and their transformation into full-fledged districts with their own GDP. There is a synergy effect.
The renovated area of the Battersea coal-fired power station in London. Architectural design — WilkinsonEyre and Michaelis Boyd, restoration — Purcell
The renovated area of the Battersea coal-fired power station in London. Architectural design — WilkinsonEyre and Michaelis Boyd, restoration — Purcell
In order to understand what exactly the project of redevelopment of industrial territories can give to the city and residents, I will give an example of the renovation of the area of the old Battersea coal-fired power station in London and the adjacent production site.
The coal-fired power station, which was actively operating from 1930 to 1980, produced up to 1/5 of London's electricity at its peak. With the passage of time and the development of technologies, the object lost its importance due to the economic inefficiency of energy production, and over time it was completely preserved, together with the adjacent industrial territory, it became one of the most stagnant and depressed areas of the city.
Due to the highly developed infrastructure and multifunctionality within the same territory, the cost of space in Mixed-Use is higher than in a stand-alone object
During its nearly century-long history, the Battersea building itself became iconic due to its monumental architecture — it appeared in the cinema, was popular for informal meetings of various underground groups, received the status of architectural heritage, etc., but all this did not cancel the absolute uselessness of the power plant object itself and territories for the city and residents of London.
The privatization process was far from immediately crowned with notable success — the owner of the land changed 3 times (privatization and change of owners occurred in 1987, 2003, and 2012), until in 2013 the current shareholders launched the process of revitalization of the territory while preserving the historical appearance of the main building of the power plant, approved a new general plan of the district with a focus on the creation of blended-use projects.
General plan with additional infrastructure for a redevelopment project in Basildon (Great Britain). Architectural studio — Leslie Jones Architecture
What happened in the end? The power plant building will retain most of the historic facades, but will receive a truly unique set of functions: the multifunctional building will be home to Apple's London campus (a 6-level office with an area of over 45 m000 promises to become the most technological and modern space in Great Britain), hundreds of new stores, located in historic turbine halls, places for holding public events and events for 2 people, food court areas on 2 m000, elevators with the maximum possible glazing area in chimneys and hundreds of new apartments and apartments.
The entire project area (17 hectares) after the completion of construction is designed for 25 people, which will create one of the largest London office, retail, entertainment and cultural districts. A new district with 000 shops, cafes and restaurants, a theater, a hotel, a medical center and 170 hectares of public space, including 000 m of river embankment and a public park, will be created on the territory of 2 m250.
Visualization of the new quarter, which will be built on the site of the former shopping center and the nearby industrial zone in the Eastgate area of the town of Basildon (Great Britain)
The completion date of all planned works on the territory is 2025. But the most important thing that the redevelopment project of the Battersea industrial area gave to London is the impetus for the development of transport infrastructure (the work on the construction of a new metro station right on the territory is already being completed, and several dozen of the most modern electric buses for public service), attraction of more than $13 billion in investments, cooperation with the best international architects and the creation of truly iconic objects, as well as an increase in the value of land and the activation of business development in the surrounding areas.
If someone believes that the success of the project is due to its location in London, which is considered the financial and business center of Europe, then let's take a look at the second project - the redevelopment of the territory of the former shopping center and the adjacent industrial area (Eastgate district) in the small town of Basildon (the population is exceeds 110 thousand people). The territory is historically located in the very center, therefore the requirements for the project were significantly expanded and were under the personal control of the city administration.
General plan with additional infrastructure for a redevelopment project in Basildon (Great Britain). Architectural studio — Leslie Jones Architecture
At the end of 2020, a vision was developed for the transformation of Basildon city center through the rethinking and partial reconstruction of the Eastgate center and its surroundings. The new quarter will provide more than 2800 new flats and apartments in the city centre, which should inspire future generations to live and work in Basildon.
Turning to the original concept of the foundation of the "New City" (the city was founded in 1948, just after the Second World War), the new master plan will create a large-scale multifunctional district with residential, commercial, office and public spaces, with extensive use of green spaces, spacious streets and cozy squares.
By the way, at the end of October 2021, full approval was received by the authorities and work began on the detailed design of all elements of the new master plan, which must meet the following criteria:
◉ security;
◉ landscaping and accessibility of the territory;
◉ respect for existing monuments;
◉ easy accessibility by all modes of transport (with special attention to bicycle transport);
◉ investment attractiveness of various types of real estate;
◉ developed infrastructure;
◉ attractive housing;
◉ useful (from the point of view of district functions) retail;
◉ cafe and restaurant component;
◉ unity of all municipalities of the region;
◉ the project should include the interests of all age categories of citizens.
In fact, the list can be continued for a long time, including projects that have already become icons in terms of redevelopment, such as the territory of the Nordhavn port in Copenhagen - more than 40 new residents and the same number of jobs, more than 000 billion dollars of investments; HafenCity in Hamburg — 12 hectares, more than 220 inhabitants and 12 permanent jobs.
But I suggest returning to the realities of Ukraine. For Ukrainian developers and investors, the concept of redevelopment has not been something new for many years.
Transport infrastructure surrounding the renovated Battersea station in London
Look at the evolution of the development projects of the former industrial territories - "Comfort Town", Kyiv Unit.City, "Faina Town" and Respublica, get acquainted with the plans for the revitalization of the territory of the Kharkiv Tractor Plant - when developing their concepts, the best world practices, a variety of functions and the interests of all were taken into account groups of citizens. It is clearly visible how over time the developers developed quantitatively and qualitatively improved all the functions provided in these projects.
Redevelopment is not so much an opportunity for the developer to "make money on the construction of new high-rises", but rather an opportunity for the city and its residents to get a new, modern and attractive multifunctional cluster, the required functions and additional points of development of the GDP of the city and a separate district, to ensure the development of public transport and, what's more the main thing is to attract investments.
Redevelopment is not just an opportunity for the developer to make money, but an opportunity for city residents to get a modern multifunctional cluster
And now let everyone answer one question for themselves: by getting rid of old and unnecessary things and replacing them with new ones that are much better suited to changes in our lifestyle, allow us to use new functions, are more convenient, etc., will we develop and go forward to development and comfort, or will we still preserve the illusion of the importance of these unnecessary and outdated things?
Author: Vitaly Boyko is the founder and CEO of Urban Experts and NAI Ukraine
