Moscow’s first General Development Plan in 1935 under Josef Stalin was geared towards making city streets of the city broader, dressing the embankments of the Moskva River in granite and erecting a great number of grandiose buildings that became known as Stalinkas.

Stalinkas are mostly residential blocks, built from the 1930s until the 1950s. There are hundreds of such buildings in Moscow, the most prominent and well-known of which are situated in the Central Administrative District.

Inside the Stalinkas

Stalinka residential buildings are divided roughly into two different categories — those made of red or white brick and those of cinder blocks.

The storey count often runs up to nine levels, which means that most Stalinkas are equipped with elevators. The exterior design of these buildings is known as the Stalin Empire style — marble, stucco, wide entrances and big windows are the typical elements of the style. The brick Stalinkas also tend to have more beautiful facades, larger apartments and better insulation.

The most striking Stalinkas are located on the embankments of the Moskva River, as well as along busy streets like Leninsky Prospekt, Leningradsky Prospekt and Kutuzovsky Prospekt.

Before the fall of the Soviet Union, the Stalinkas were considered the most prestigious real estate in the country — military leaders, famous scientists, professors, artists, actors and actresses, directors and leaders of the Communist Party were the original inhabitants of these buildings.

According to Alexei Shlenov, general director at MIEL-Brokerage real estate company, the design of Stalinkas varies considerably.

"They can be divided into two main types — small Stalinkas, with equally small 5 to 5.5 square metre kitchens," and those that feature apartments with "a large kitchen of over 7.5 square metres", Shlenov told The Moscow News.

The smaller Stalinkas were erected with Soviet workers in mind, and the bigger ones were constructed for the elite. "These apartments had rooms for servants and back doors that also could be used as fire exits," Shlenov said.

Beyond the centre

Alexander Ziminsky, director of the elite property department at Penny Lane Realty, told The Moscow News that in contrast to the historic pre-Revolutionary houses, the presence of Stalinkas is not confined to the city centre.

"A series of Stalinkas along Leningradsky Prospekt and Leningradskoye Shosse stretch down to Voikovskaya metro station," Ziminsky said.

Natalia Kats, managing director of elite property agency Usadba, told the Moscow News that the Stalinkas are still considered luxury housing.

"The target market is foreigners and transplants from St. Petersburg and Moscow who left Russia, but want to have a home for when they are back," Kats said.

According to Kats, those who buy apartments in Stalinkas often value an element of nostalgia. "It is interesting, that such apartments are almost never renovated in a high-tech style — it simply won’t be match the rich tradition of Stalinkas," Kats said.

Property values

"Many of the Stalinkas are kept in good condition: they have clean facades, refurbished floors, elevators, entrances and stairs, while [those that are not renovated] have leaking roofs, and the cracked plaster on the bricks has accumulated many years of efflorescence," said Ziminsky of Penny Lane Realty. The buildings that are well-maintained are, naturally, valued more on the market.

According to Alexei Shlenov of MIEL-Brokerage, a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen measuring eight square metres and a three and a half metre high ceiling, located on the fourth floor of an eight-storey Stalinka at Leninsky Prospekt, will cost around 16 million roubles to purchase.

"A one-bedroom apartment with total area of 57 square metres, with a large, 10 square metre kitchen, on the seventh floor of an eight-storey building will cost 13 million rubles in the Lomonosovsky neighbourhood, while a two bedroom flat in Gagarinsky will be 12.7 million rubles," Shlenov said.

Ziminsky meanwhile pointed out that location also plays a big role in an apartment’s value. "The most expensive Stalinka buildings are located on Ulitsa Tverskaya between Pushkin Square and Red Square, as well as at the crossroads of Leninsky Prospekt and Ulitsa Akademika Petrovskogo, on Kutuzovsky Prospekt," he said.

Renting an apartment in a well-maintained Stalinka could be very pricey, said Anna Levitova, managing partner of Evans Real Estate. Average rent costs tend to fluctuate between 40,000 and 54,000 roubles per month.

"A two-bedroom apartment, recently renovated in a Western style, containing all the necessary appliances and a view of a beautiful park at Leninsky Prospekt will cost 40,000 roubles per month," Levitova said. "Also, the lowest monthly rental price will be 54,000 roubles per month for similar flats at Kutuzovsky and Leningradsky Prospekt."

Of course, lovers of Soviet-style luxury don’t always stop there. "[Right now] the most expensive rental price for a Stalinka is 427,000 roubles per month for a four-bedroom apartment located on Tver skaya Ulitsa," Levitova said.

The apartment question

Yefim Freidine, an architect from Novosibirsk, has lived in Moscow for about six months and rents a flat inside a centrally-located Stalinka. He rather ominously told The Moscow News that those who want to rent in a Stalinka ought to "be prepared to buy more blankets and see how much [they] are willing to spend per month to maintain [their] apartment — especially when it comes to the electricity and heating bills."

Freidine advises those who wish to renovate their Stalinka apartments to make the most use of their large windows. "If you are ready to invest in improvements to the apartment, please think about preserving one of the biggest Stalinka’s advantages — the amount of natural light," he said. "It’s nice to wake up in a sunlit room."

Freidine’s building is located on Ulitsa Krymsky Val in the Yakimanka neighbourhood. "It has a wonderful view from the windows, but alas, it’s noisy due to the traffic at Krymsky Val as well as the poorly designed intersection," he said.

Freidine said that he treats his apartment just like a "gostinka" (a studio apartment) rather than a place where families live for generations. He added that because this winter was pretty cold, the apartment’s corner location proved a particular nuisance, with "too much wind going in."

As for the location of his Stalinka, which was built in the 1930s, Freidine said the main problem with living in the place was not having any good grocery stores nearby.

"But there are coffee shops, sushi-bars, pizzerias and even a book store, as well as the Tretyakov Gallery, which is five minutes away by foot," Freidine said.

Freidine also said that he likes his neighbours, and pointed out that "there is a building manager who looks after the main entrance."

Source: The Moscow News