Banks, appraisers, investors, developers, brokers — all support the emergence of a unified classification of objects in the light industrial segment. But soon there will be two such classification systems. And what should I do?
The words of partner Ricci may well serve as a continuation of the conversation started last time about the Re-Digest project, the new “Alliance of Real Estate Market Experts” and the first intercorporate classification of objects in the light industrial segment | Analytical Center, co-founder of the NGO “Alliance of Real Estate Market Experts” Yana Kuzina: “Firstly, the classification is created by product — not for banks, but for the market as a whole, taking into account regional characteristics and niches. It is created taking into account not only the experience of sellers (broker-consultants), but also the experience (and with the direct participation) of specialized developers who know and understand the product more deeply than those who only sell.”
Yana Kuzina is Ricci’s partner | Analytical Center, co-founder of the NGO “Alliance of Real Estate Market Experts” “Secondly, experienced experts, not just analysts, must take part in the work on the classification (top officials of companies that have been active in the market since 2005-2010 and remain in this business niche to this day). Product rating points have also been introduced in the classification in some segments, which help appraisers better understand why one class A project is much more expensive than another, although of the same class A. Unfortunately, sometimes the building class is announced rather subjectively, more based on PR goals and the needs of consultants, when the building is positioned for a rental offer. or for sale. The classification with a rating helps specialists who are less familiar with the product and market insiders to understand product pricing. Of course, the classification is not mandatory, but NGO experts created it in order to give the market a practical and relatively objective tool for comparing and evaluating a product.”
According to Yana Kuzina, the classification will be useful primarily as a basis for determining pricing parameters that are crucial for this particular niche. “It is important to note that at the beginning of 2026, it is planned to update the current classification — so far it lacks some characteristics and parameters, such as “multi-storey”, since there is not yet a sufficient sample of introduced projects on the market. It is only possible to pre—classify or evaluate what has not yet been built,” the expert adds.
As for the banks’ position regarding the alliance itself and its proposed classification, in particular, the VTB press service answered Business FM’s questions: “VTB supported the idea of creating the NGO Alliance of Real Estate Market Experts, as it is interested in obtaining a qualitative assessment of the value of collateral and a tool for monitoring the collateral portfolio. Along with other credit institutions, VTB representatives are members of the working groups for the implementation of NGO projects. VTB is not a founding member of the alliance.”
Sberbank’s collateral service experts take an active part in the work of the community, sharing their expertise on capitalization rates, operating expenses, and the level of expenses in revenue that they observe in the bank’s collateral portfolio by segment when relevant assets are available, continues Evgeny Shcheglov, Managing Director and Head of the Valuation and Collateral Operations Department at Sberbank. “Sberbank’s collateral service sees value in the unified information platform created within the framework of digests, in which banks are an important link between developers/owners, consultants and the valuation community. Thanks to this, the real estate market becomes more transparent and understandable for participants, and the valuation community has a deeper understanding of business and the qualitative characteristics of property values,” the expert notes.
In short, banks support the classification idea itself and see a lot of benefits for all participants in the process, but they do not commit themselves to using the classification proposed by the alliance in decision-making. And here it’s time to remember that at the end of last year, the largest real estate consulting companies were NF Group and CORE.XP, IBC Real Estate, Nikoliers and the Commonwealth Partnership (CMWP), members of the Moscow Research Forum (MRF), have announced their update of the classifications of Russian warehouse real estate and light industrial segment facilities.
“In May 2024, the Big Five presented an updated classification of Moscow office real estate: Compared to the previous version in 2013, a number of criteria and requirements have been changed in the new one, and most importantly, a new, fifth class of high—level office facilities in the capital, Prime, has appeared. A little later, in September, it was announced that St. Petersburg would receive an updated classification of the office segment in 2025. Now it’s the turn of warehouses and light industrial. This process is aimed at adapting existing standards to current realities and market requirements, including the technical, economic and engineering parameters of buildings, as well as the specifics of land use. Among the characteristics considered are construction technologies, ease of operation, flexibility in adapting premises to different types of activities, improvement of logistics infrastructure, and a number of others. The new documents will be offered to the market in 2025,” the Business FM portal wrote at the time.
Photo: Marina Demidyuk/Lori Photo Bank
So does the market need two classification options, won’t it confuse everyone? “There is definitely a risk of confusion, no matter how much we want to avoid it. It is very important to pay attention to the practical application of a particular product and correctly identify a niche (for example, to separate the concept of a technopark as a special territory from the concept of a product-a light industrial building). Classification in Re-Digest is created as part of the valuation product, checks those parameters that affect the value through rating points, as well as through valuation adjustments, linking the valuation world and the world of developers and brokers. We are open to cooperation with organizations with specialized experience in this field, and we want to work together to develop solutions that will be useful to all market players and help achieve common goals,” says Yana Kuzina.
“Initially, all representatives of the Big Five were invited, at the moment some of them are taking part in the work on digests in segments where they have specialized experience. Nikoliers actively participated in the creation of digests on warehouses and residential real estate. We hope that the representatives of MWP will be involved in the work on the hotel segment, in which the experts of this company have, by far, the richest experience of the entire “five”, — continues Galina Bulycheva, Candidate of Economics, OKS Labs (by OKKAM), member of the Evaluation Council at the Ministry of Economic Development, Chairman of the Expert Council of the SMAO.
Galina Bulycheva, PhD in Economics, OKS Labs (by OKKAM), member of the Evaluation Council under the Ministry of Economic Development, Chairman of the Expert Council of the SMAO “I would like to point out that almost all the curators of the digests are former heads of departments or top experts from JLL, CBRE, Colliers International, Shmap & Wakefield or Knight Frank, who worked there in 2005-2015. The Moscow Research Forum was created by these specialists in 2005-2008. For example, the penultimate update of the office classification was made by MRF in 2013, and in 2024 the office classification was updated only after the start of the digest group, while some of the experts of this group were excluded from the process, as they work under the brands of others or their own companies. Our expert community is primarily people, not company brands. Therefore, the founders of NPOs and members of working groups are experts, individuals with relevant experience in the real estate industry and in niche segments. For example, many well-known brokerage companies started working at light industrial no more than three or four years ago, they rarely operate offices in the regions and sometimes are not represented in St. Petersburg. We will definitely analyze and take into account all documents developed by other relevant communities in those niches and regions where they have extensive practice, and we will also be glad to see experts from these companies as members of the NGO Alliance of Real Estate Market Experts working groups.
For their part, representatives of the Moscow Research Forum (MRF) told Business FM that they are currently preparing an update of classifications for warehouse real estate and light industrial facilities, which will provide answers to all questions. “MRF has been operating in the commercial real estate market for over 20 years. This association was created by five international consultants who, despite the withdrawal of companies from international networks, retained the basic principles of work and the continuity of best practices, including an understanding of the value of analytics and, most importantly, professional teams and targeted budgets. These are analysts with extensive experience and high competencies, people whom the entire professional community knows and trusts.: Olga Shirokova, Ekaterina Nogai, Polina Afanasyeva, Vasily Grigoriev, Tatiana Divina and the teams under their leadership,” the MRF recalls.
According to representatives of the forum, the specifics of analysts’ work imply continuous monitoring of the market in order to collect and update a huge amount of information, systematize it in databases, generate research and reports, verify transactions, and so on. “Almost all the real estate market data that is available today and that is used by the media, banks, developers and appraisers themselves are prepared by MRF members. All the classifications recognized and used by the market (three editions of the office in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the warehouse, which is currently being updated, and the unified version of light industrial), on which any analytics is based, are the result of a deep study and an integrated approach, they are proven and tested products, and they are high-quality working tools that provide for a wide range of application,” the experts of the Moscow Research Forum explain.
“Besides, it’s not enough just to make a classification — we need to reclassify the entire volume. MRF has updated the classification of Moscow office real estate, and the reclassification of all properties is currently underway. This is a resource—intensive process, and only an experienced and specialized team of analysts can handle it. Similar processes will take place in warehouses and light industrial. And then all analytics will be based on the new classification,” the MRF puts an end to it.
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Those who can read between the lines and catch the intonation behind certain formulations are likely to understand: to be continued. Especially considering that the classification “dual power” may soon appear not only in the light industrial segment, but also in all other segments, in which the Alliance of Real Estate Market Experts and the Moscow Research Forum will work in parallel.
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