Land Use, Construction and Real Estate
Experts
Our real estate and construction specialists have knowledge and extensive experience of various areas of construction and urban planning law, including legislation on the protection of historical and cultural monuments.
The practice’s lawyers structure real estate transactions, investment and development projects and provide ongoing legal support.
Our litigators represent clients contesting or defending property rights in court and in disputes between parties in the construction business.
Expertise and legal support in real estate and construction:
- Conducting legal audits of real estate and land
- Drafting, structuring and implementing transactions involving real estate and land
- Legal support for investment projects:
- o developing and structuring projects through both contractual and corporate structures
- o tax planning for investment projects
- o risk assessments for investment projects from the point of view of urban planning legislation
- Developing and supporting commercial property management projects, property management tax planning
- Resolving land valuation disputes
Expertise and legal support in the field of urban planning legislation:
- Expert legal examinations at the feasibility study stage for projects where there are urban planning constraints, including in cases where there are no adequate urban planning regulations for the development/reconstruction area. Legal assistance in determining possible deviations from the maximum allowable parameters and the optimal procedure for having such deviations approved.
- Contesting unlawful acts/omissions by the authorities in the course of construction/reconstruction, in particular, the extension of decisions granting land and issuing urban development plans and building permits.
- Legal support in disputes concerning the payment of excessive rents and investment payments where a project is delayed due to the authorities not fulfilling their obligations within the proper timeframe.
- Developing regulations for the client's non-legal staff on liaising with authorities so that the company complies with legal requirements in the event of any conflict.
Expertise and legal support in the field of legislation on protection of historical and cultural monuments:
- Legal expertise regarding urban planning restrictions applicable to land plots, taking into account the validity periods of urban planning regulations (due to the invalidation of St. Petersburg Law No. 820-7, dated 19 January 2009).
- Identifying legal risks in development projects where historical preservation activists are likely to challenge the authorities’ decisions and actions. Drafting recommendations in order to minimize legal risks, drawing on our experience of the Kuibyshev District Court and the City Court of St. Petersburg, the Commercial Courts of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, the Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeal, the Northwest District Commercial Court, and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
- Liaising with authorities to obtain urban development plans, construction permits and approvals from the Committee for the State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Landmarks, and extending resolutions of the Government of St. Petersburg.
- Resolving disputes with historical preservation activists and authorities where they have challenged acts and omissions by the authorities (the State Architecture and Construction Inspectorate, the City Planning and Architecture Committee, the Committee for the State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Landmarks, and the Government of St. Petersburg).
Projects
Litigation contesting the State Architecture and Construction Inspectorate’s refusal to issue a construction permit.
Litigation contesting the State Architecture and Construction Inspectorate’s refusal to issue construction permits due to deviations from the maximum parameters in the project, on a site located in development planning zone 2-1.
Legal audit of a project to reconstruct historical and cultural heritage sites.
Legal audit of a project to reconstruct a group of buildings located in development planning zone 2-2, one of which is a federal monument of history and culture, and the other a newly discovered cultural heritage site without protection commitments.
Round table on cooperation and legal support in response to the activities of historical preservation activists in St. Petersburg.
Organizing and hosting a round table with St. Petersburg developers to work out a joint strategy in response to the vigorous campaigning by historical preservation activists, challenging individual rulings by St. Petersburg authorities and regulations, including the Land Use and Development Rules and the Law of St. Petersburg ‘On Boundaries of Protected Areas ...’.
Litigation challenging the decisions and orders of the St. Petersburg City Planning and Architecture Committee, the Chief Architect of the Committee, and the State Construction Supervision and Expertise Service of St. Petersburg.
Representing the interests of a developer in the Kuibyshev District Court of St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg City Court regarding a challenge by historical preservation activists and the recognition as unlawful of a decision by the St. Petersburg City Planning and Architecture Committee to adopt an urban development plan, approval by the Chief Architect of the same Committee, and building permits issued by the State Construction Supervision and Expertise Service of St. Petersburg.
Risk assessment and development of legal mechanisms for the implementation of a development project in New Moscow.
Developing a mechanism to minimize risks in implementing a development project in New Moscow in a situation where the development plan and building permit had been issued by the Moscow Region authorities, but the facility was to be commissioned after the land had been reassigned to the City of Moscow. This led to a certain ambiguity with regard to some of the applicable urban planning regulations.
We came up with a legal solution that suited both the developer and the Moscow city authorities and were thus able to avoid a potential conflict and litigation.
Handling court disputes with the Moscow Region Forestry Committee on the transfer of land.
Handling a series of disputes with the Moscow Region Forestry Committee with regard to the reclassification of over 100 hectares of land from forest stock to construction land.
Successful resolution of a dispute with the State Construction Supervision Service. Details >>
Compelling the State Construction Supervision Service, through the courts, to grant the developer a permit to build a shopping centre.
Supporting a number of development projects, including acquisition of land.
Supporting several projects involving the acquisition of land for construction in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, including obtaining permits and structuring contractual relationships between developers, investors and contractors.
Supporting an investment project involving the construction of housing in Moscow Region.
Supporting an investment project involving the construction of more than 300,000 m2 of housing in Moscow Region. Developing and implementing a contractual framework between the landowners and the contractor, and supporting the implementation of the project.