ST. PETERSBURG -- A group of local builders has finished the main stage in a foreign-funded pilot project for a mammoth plan to refurbish 9 million square meters of St. Petersburg's numerous five-story Khrushchev-era apartment buildings, rather than demolish them.
Construction companies Padams, Velux-Russia and LenzhilNIIproyekt on Monday finished the main phase of reconstruction at 16 Torzhovskaya Ulitsa close to Chornaya Rechka metro that is three stops north of the city center, and are scheduled to complete the entire project by August of this year.
The project involves adding nine apartments to the roof of the so-called khrushchyovka, adding another 600 square meters of living space to the building, at a cost of $300 per square meter, according to Lev Khikhlukha, chief architect at Velux-Russia.
The building's facades are being made more energy efficient, stairways, windows and doors are being rebuilt and replaced, and sewage and heating systems are being upgraded, adding $48 per square meter to the cost, Khikhlukha said.
The project is being presented as an alternative to demolishing the Krushchev-era buildings to make way for larger apartment blocks that could help ease St. Petersburg's tight market for decent housing relatively close to the center.
Adding a floor to all of the city's approximately 190,000 remaining krushchyovkas would boost St.Petersburg's total housing by 5.9 million square meters, said Rafael Milyavsky, the deputy chairman of the city's construction committee.
Carrying out that work would cost 36 billion rubles, or $1.25 billion, he added. The city administration is prepared to invest 4 billion rubles toward reconstruction, with any further funds to come from outside investors.
The pilot project is aimed at determining whether or not the khrushchyovkas can be reconstructed without resettling residents.
Reconstruction will cost 33 percent less than razing and replacing the buildings, according to Velux-Russia.
However, Milyavsky said some of the city's apartment buildings will still have to be razed.
Funds and materials for the khrushchyovka project have been provided by the Danish government, the Russian Foundation of Roof-Dwellers and a number of Scandinavian construction companies - Velux, Rockwool, Danfoss, Grundfos, Wavin and Trelleborg.
Other parties are also actively interested in winning any future housing reconstruction contracts in St. Petersburg. Local developers LEK and Dachnoye are conducting their own pilot project for khrushchyovka reconstruction in the Kirovsky region in the city's south.
LEK and Dachnoye's Kirovsky project also includes redesigning internal apartment layouts. Some two-room apartments are being turned into 40-square-meter one-room apartments.
Milyavsky predicted a city-wide project would pay for itself within seven years of completion, and he estimated the retail price of reconstructed housing units at $190 per square meter.
However, LenSpetsSMU general director Vyacheslav Zarenkov said reconstruction and replumbing the old khrushchyovkas will cost from $200 to $220 per square meter.
Zarenkov said he opposes the idea of reconstructing the city's khrushchyovkas because the buildings are in such bad shape. He said they should simply be torn down and modern apartment buildings erected in their place.
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