Dragon Capital Property Management invested about $10 million in the real estate portfolio as a whole for 2023 and plans the same level of investment for 2024, Dragon Capital Property Management commercial director Natalia Kravets told Interfax-Ukraine.

She clarified that in the fall of 2023 the company sold the Pory Roku (Seasons) business center to the end consumer; details, according to the agreement, are not disclosed. Currently, Dragon Capital PM manages 28 commercial real estate properties, including 12 business centers, six retail facilities and 10 logistics complexes, with a total area of 647,000 square meters.

"Currently we have no plans to sell properties from the portfolio; on the contrary, we are considering attractive opportunities for privatization. We are constantly investing in our real estate properties: we complete the construction we have begun, carry out reconstructions, make repairs and improvements for tenants, carry out finishing and landscaping work. In total, In 2023, we invested about $10 million in our real estate portfolio and are planning the same level of investment for 2024," Kravets said.

Overall, she was cautiously optimistic about the results for 2023. Vacancy in the company's business centers has decreased significantly in Vinnytsia and Lviv, and is minimal in the capital with locations in the central business district of the capital and near the metro. Vacancy has increased in Kyiv business centers, which are located next to critical infrastructure facilities, at a relative distance from the city center, as well as on the Left Bank.

According to the company’s commercial director, the portrait of the tenant has changed in 2022-2023. If before the war the bulk of the demand was provided by IT companies, now their share has decreased significantly, and potential tenants include FMCG companies, retailers, and industrial companies.

"Recently, there have been a lot of requests from so-called call centers, but we prefer not to even negotiate with such companies because of their toxicity," Kravets said.

She added that last year rental rates dropped significantly and tenant expectations increased.

Overall, 2023 was an active year in the office segment.

"During the year, we signed contracts with tenants for more than 2,000 square meters, and for smaller areas. The main thing is that the majority of our current tenants extend their contracts with us for 12-60 months, and this inspires us to work even better. We really care about the safety and loyalty of all our residents," she said.

Four business centers of the company have coworking spaces.

"We plan to attract them to almost every business center, so we are currently negotiating with several co-working spaces in Kyiv and Lviv," Kravets said.

As for retail real estate, 2023 proved to be quite successful for all five shopping centers of the company.