Russia's leading retailer, Dixy Group, and developer PNK Group have signed a deal to construct a built-to-suit distribution center, the companies said in a press release.
Dixy will outlay more than 2.6 billion roubles to finance the construction of the 44,000 square meter facility, having attracted Cushman & Wakefield as the consultant for the deal.Vnukovo district has been chosen as the most suitable location for Dixy’s distribution center, with design tailored to meet Dixy’s efficiency requirements, the release specifies. “The warehouse complex will be divided into several temperature zones to enable optimum conditions for storing over 4,000 kinds of goods, and cross-docking will provide convenient logistics inside the complex,” the release says.The center will be completed within nine months.The new distribution facility will be the first terminal in Russia to meet with Factory Mutual Global criteria. These standards were developed by leading insurance companies and envisage special requirements for fire safety, building construction reliability and so on. FM Global standards are now adopted in over 100 countries. Ilya Yakubson, Dixy President, said the new distribution center will be advantageous for the company during the chain’s expansion: “The new center will enable the company to meet increased trading volume demands in the Central Federal District after the integration of the Victoria stores, which is planned in 2012.”PNK Group built-to-suit projects have a combined floor space of 145,000 square meters. The Dixy distribution center is PNK Group's fifth such project. Highlighting the growing number of this type of project, Yegor Dorofeev, a partner with Cushman & Wakefield, noted that built-to-suit distribution center facilities are fast becoming an attractive real estate prospect. "The PNK Group deal with Dixy shows that built-to-suit projects have established themselves as a separate segment of the warehouse real estate market,” noted Dorofeev.