Etalon Group with a loss of 2.2 billion rubles. sold the Letniy Sad shopping center on Dmitrovskoye Shosse in Moscow to the Izhevsk Arden group. There is a protracted crisis in the retail real estate market: since 2019, attendance at properties has fallen by 25%. But regional developers may be taking a closer look at the properties, hoping to gain a foothold in the Moscow market with their purchase.
Atlantdomstroy LLC became the new owner of the Letniy Sad shopping center on Dmitrovskoye Highway, as follows from the Unified State Register of Real Estate. This structure, according to Kartoteka.rucontrolled by Dmitry Egorov and part of the Arden company. Previously, the facility was controlled by the Etalon group. It was sold with the creation of an impairment reserve of 2.2 billion rubles, as follows from the developer’s reporting under IFRS. The tool is used when the sale price is lower than the original one, Etalon explained to Kommersant. They added that the economic situation has changed greatly over the past few years. At Arden, Kommersant did not respond promptly.
Etalon is part of Sistema JSFC. This is one of the largest Russian developers, the volume of current housing construction reaches 1.2 million square meters. m, follows from the materials of “Our.Home.RF”. The company’s revenue in 2025 increased by 17.3% year-on-year, to 153.6 billion rubles, the net loss more than tripled, to 22 billion rubles.
Dmitry Egorov’s Arden Group of Companies has existed since 2017 and specializes in the construction of mass housing in Izhevsk. Among the company’s projects are the residential complexes “Arden on Ordzhonikidze”, “Arden on Voroshilova”, “Arden on Klyuchevoy” and others. The company has not previously been involved in managing shopping centers or implementing projects in Moscow.
“Summer Garden” is a shopping center with an area of 29.5 thousand square meters. m, built in 2021 as part of the Etalona residential complex of the same name in the north of Moscow. But its full launch never took place: now only the Perekrestok store operates here, and a large-scale opening is planned only for the second half of 2026, CMWP notes.
Senior Director of the Assessment and Consulting Department of CMWP Anton Kalistratov estimates “Summer Garden” at 4.5–5 billion rubles. But the sale price, according to the director of the investment and capital markets department of Bright Rich | CORFAC International by Ekaterina Andreeva could amount to 100–120 thousand rubles. per sq. m. The transaction budget, based on this estimate, could be in the range of 2.95–3.54 billion rubles.
Ekaterina Andreeva calls the purchase of a rental business an atypical transaction for a housing developer. She does not rule out that the company could have been attracted by the low cost of the asset.
Mr. Kalistratov believes that the motivation was the desire to gain a foothold in the Moscow market and diversify the portfolio of assets. The expert says that if the property can be filled with tenants at high rates, it will be able to generate rental income at the level of 600–800 million rubles. per year. But there is also a second scenario. There, the Summer Garden will remain half empty and the landlord will be forced to offer significant discounts to attract and retain tenants.
The conditions for the retail real estate market have remained difficult for several years. According to Focus Technologies estimates, in January-March 2026, the Mall Index (the number of visitors per 1 thousand square meters of retail space) in Russia decreased by 2% year-on-year and by 25% compared to the same period in 2019. This led to occupancy problems.
In 2025, the share of vacant space in Moscow shopping centers increased by 2 percentage points, to 10%, and this year it may increase to 11%, IBC Real Estate expects.
Ekaterina Andreeva notes that many retailers and catering establishments are now optimizing their space. Declining traffic, rising operating costs and the constant flow of buyers to marketplaces are reducing the investment attractiveness of shopping centers, she says.
