Anton Melnikov, CEO of Metrika Investments, took part in the 1st session of the event and discussed the most relevant issues and trends of the commercial property market with his colleagues, paying special attention to the updated classification of offices: 

"As we continue to talk about new trends on the office property market, we need to focus particularly on the updated classification of offices. In our opinion, it has turned out to be somewhat one-sided, largely aimed at fully satisfying the owners of buildings. Instead of class A+ and A, we now have Prime. The right decision here was to give the management of this class of office building to a single owner, because it is quite difficult to maintain the office in a truly Prime condition if you do not manage the whole complex. Otherwise, time will tell. Another noticeable trend in recent years is the active entry of residential developers into the commercial property segment. However, they are rather forced to build office space as part of their projects, as the programme of places of employment is also aimed at this. This year, I am sure we will see a lot of good projects. But against this background rental rates will really rise. Given the modest new supply, existing space will continue to be washed out regardless of the price set per square metre. In general, I agree that companies are now actively looking not at the metreage, but really at the infrastructure, convenience and the availability of proper and reliable engineering systems".