Real Estate & Construction

Nordic Star Law Offices offers services to Russian and foreign clients in the field of real estate and construction, encompassing assistance in all legal aspects of deals with industrial, commercial and residential real estate. We provide legal support to construction projects at all stages, interact with state authorities and represent clients before courts in real estate title disputes, urban development disputes and disputes related to construction permits and approvals.

Our clients are investors, developers, construction companies, bureaus of architecture and design organizations, financial institutions, funds, as well as manufacturing companies in the construction, chemical, food, woodworking, machine tool industries, and machinery and electronics manufacturers.

The professionalism of our experts is recognized by the leading rating agencies The Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and The Best Lawyers. Joint projects involve lawyers of all practices on issues related to fundraising, structuring of corporate and financial relations between project partners, the environment, industrial safety and labor protection.

Areas of Expertise

Contract

• Full support of local and cross-border real estate contracts and construction projects under Russian and foreign law
• Structuring of real estate
• Due diligence
• Tax planning and structuring
• Project finance
• Mortgages and other securities
• Leases, lease of future assets, lease with option to purchase and leasebacks
• Real estate disputes

Construction

• Full support of construction projects (all stages)
• Interaction with state authorities
• Engineering and project design contracts, construction contracts, EPC, FIDIC
• Disputes with state authorities and project partners

Urban Development

• Analysis of urban planning documentation
• Development of site and survey plans
• Permissible construction parameters and obtaining urban planning documentation
• Land zoning issues
• Compliance
• Review of existing encumbrances and restrictions

Disputes

• Analysis of urban planning documentation, existing encumbrances and restrictions
• Land zoning issues
• Urban development disputes

Recent Cases

• Conducted legal due diligence of real estate and advised the world’s largest producer of mining equipment on the acquisition of land and construction of service centers in Russia
• Assisted a Russian subsidiary of Avito Holding AB with leasing an office in Moscow. The project is notable for the size of the office, complex structure of the lease, high rent payments and significant scale of fit-out works
• Conducted legal due diligence of industrial production, provided full legal support in the acquisition of an industrial estate and advised a leading Austrian industrial company concerning construction of a plant in Bashkortostan
• Advised an international airport operator on real estate and construction-related matters in the project of airport complex reconstruction
• Assisted a large Swedish fund in the construction and reconstruction of business centers and multifunctional complexes in the historical center of St. Petersburg
• Assisted the world’s leading car manufacturer in the construction of a car factory in St. Petersburg
• Assisted a leading St. Petersburg real estate developer Hansastroi in the acquisition of a residential construction project in St. Petersburg
• Assisted a leading Danish fish manufacturer in the acquisition of a part of a fish production plant in Novgorod
• Conducted legal due diligence and provided the largest Scandinavian gas station operator with full legal support in the acquisition of land and real estate for the construction and operation of gas stations
• Provided legal support of transactions in the acquisition of land, real estate and companies for the construction of groceries and DIY supermarkets in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region

Rankings

Chambers Europe

• General Business Law: Real Estate in St. Petersburg (Band 2: 2015 – 2020)

The Legal 500

• Real Estate & Construction, Russia (Tier 4: 2014 – 2021)

The Best Lawyers

• Real Estate Law: Arina Dovzhenko, Andrei Gusev, Artem Zhavoronkov
• Construction Law: Arina Dovzhenko

Pravo – 300

• Land Law / Real Estate / Construction, regional ranking (Group 1: 2021-2022, Group 2: 2023)

Kommersant

• Construction and real estate. Resolution of disputes of real estate market participants. Federal ranking (Band 2: 2023)
• Construction and real estate. Advising on real estate transactions and implementation of construction projects. Federal ranking (Band 1: 2023)

Additional information