MegaFon has abandoned its earlier decision to locate its headquarters in the Empire II multifunctional complex, which is being built by Solvers Estate.
Back in 2019, it was announced that MegaFon was planning to lease 50,000 square meters of space in this Moscow-City tower. This desire was prompted by the Central Bank's ongoing negotiations to purchase the Oruzheyny business center building, located near the Mayakovskaya metro station and housing the mobile operator's headquarters. Since MegaFon is a co-owner of the building, it would have been advantageous for the company to sell the existing property and relocate its head office to the leased space. However, as Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina announced, the deal will not go ahead.
As a result, MegaFon no longer needed to find new premises for its head office relocation. Three consultants working with Empire II reported that MegaFon had pulled out of the deal.
Currently, plans are underway to build apartments and a hotel in "Empire II." According to Andrey Lukashev, managing partner of ILM, it's difficult to negotiate the purchase or lease of new office space, as the COVID-19 pandemic has left many companies uncertain about how many employees they can keep in the office and how many will be forced to work remotely.