NHOOD is not a replacement of CEETRUS, but a brand new company. CEETRUS continues its business activity as property owner, whereas NHOOD is a new service firm that will attend to the portfolio of CEETRUS and other companies. The three main lines of NHOOD’s business activity are: property management, asset management, development.
The reason for NHOOD establishment is the division of functions between the owner and a service company. This will help us to be more professional and to better develop our services – above all, for the CEETRUS portfolio, but also for other brands of Mulliez Family Association including Leroy Merlin, Decathlon, KIABI, and Auchan. Apart from this focus, we plan to work with other property owners as well.
Why NHOOD in place of CEETRUS?
Why did you decide to focus on services within the framework of your strategy?
We are positive that far-reaching transformations await the property market. These are caused by several factors. The first factor is changes in retail and customer’s behavior. The second one is environmental changes (including the climate change). The third factor is changes in the urban environment. Now denizens want to see all goods and services within a 15-minute reach of their domicile. Taking all these factors into account, we’ll keep developing our services and will be able to become an operator of services in high demand. NHOOD is a property service brand which joins hands with local residents to bring in a special spirit, to regenerate neighborhoods and urban space, wielding a positive influence in three directions: environment, social and economic aspects.
What will mark the beginning of the NHOOD concept implementation in Russia?
In Russia we see two main directions for NHOOD: redevelopment of existing CEETRUS projects from their basic renovation to complete redevelopment down to utter demolition of buildings, creation of new infrastructure, housing, offices, and retail. We’ll also manage property with a special focus on our in-house facility management division. The given move is needed to raise the level of our expertise and professionalism in managing CEETRUS properties, facilities of our partners, and to enter the open market. We’ve already set to the formation of our in-house FM service and to several redevelopment projects.
Do you plan greenfield development, the purchase and sale of projects?
We have no plans to buy new property. We have a rather extensive portfolio of facilities which are part of our redevelopment projects. We do not rule out property sale. Certain facilities can be put up for sale depending on their financial expediency to our portfolio.
At the present stage you manage your own shopping centers in Togliatti, Moscow, Moscow Region and Volgograd. Please say a few words about regional specifics. Is it possible to “copy-paste” management and marketing in those facilities?
We manage a rather vast portfolio with most facilities concentrated in Moscow and its suburbs, but some are located in other Russian regions. We can talk about the specifics of small cities and towns because in million-plus cities the situation is more or less similar to that in Moscow and its suburbs. Retailers do not care much about smaller places and, accordingly, the tenant mix is less attractive there. As regards their effectiveness, for us it is simpler and a lot more effective to manage a large property in a particular region, than a shopping gallery. With the rapid advancement of the Internet, transport capabilities and ubiquitous “globalization” clients anticipate universal standards in services, goods and offer in retail outlets, regardless of the city size or its remoteness from Moscow. Yet the purchasing power is not homogeneous, so the main challenge is to seek an equally high level of offer in each region.
What can you say about further development of the Aquarelle brand under the NHOOD supervision? Or rebranding awaits these facilities as well?