Kazan's TsUM will get a tower?
Kazan's TsUM will get a tower?
At the end of April, Kazan began to dismantle the building of the former Central Department Store. In order to reassure the city's residents, Yelena Valeyeva, chief architect of Tatinvestgrazhdanproekt, reported on the progress of the work. According to her, “no one plans to demolish the TsUM building.” At the same time, a business centre may appear here, on the site of the empty space near the store.
We are changing the TsUM — and everything around it
“In general, the condition of the building is satisfactory, but many structures require dismantling and replacement due to significant wear and tear,” Yelena Valeyeva said. “Naturally, the building needs a serious upgrade of all life support systems: ventilation, sewerage, water supply, etc. Over 50 years, the standards have changed, and the new purpose requires planning changes (modern standards provide for wider stairwells, convenient elevators, cloakrooms and bathrooms).”
The chief architect of TIGP also added that “the facades will be authentic.”
According to one version, according to Realnoe Vremya’s sources, a new business center may appear next to the store. Currently, various options for developing the territory are being developed, including an extension, but there are no approved decisions.
The second business centre on Mokraya Square
Back in December 2024, it was announced that a business centre would appear on the site of the medical center building next door on 4, Yakhina Street, which would be built by the Moscow company Business Centre Pyatnitsky. The project was approved in the summer of 2022 at a meeting of the interdepartmental commission chaired by Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. It will be a four-story building with an area of more than 4,300 square meters with an underground parking lot for 123 cars. The remaining part of the site will be occupied by the historical Mokraya Square.
Mokraya Square, also known as 1, Mokraya Street, is the modern Korotchenko Street, which was intended for city trade. Therefore, in the middle of the 19th century, this territory was called a market or a square.
Thus, the renovated TsUM may have two new high-rise neighbours. In addition, across the street from the future business centre, on the former territory of the Kazan Helicopter Plant, a residential complex from the Arkada company will appear. As for the abandoned Sobolevskiye Rooms, the complex has now been transferred to the State Housing Fund.
The Crafts Centre will open this year
The reconstruction and new purpose of the TsUM were discussed in the spring of 2023, when Rustam Minnikhanov announced the republic's intention to buy the building in order to create a crafts centre in it.
The concept was developed by the Institute for the Development of Tatarstan Cities, which submitted proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan in the summer of 2024. In the fall, in a message to the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, the rais of the republic indicated that the centre of folk arts and crafts and craftsmen would open in 2025: “This should not just be a shopping centre for selling souvenirs and crafts, but, most importantly, an industrial park for Tatarstan artisans.”
According to architect Daniil Yefimov, who was one of the developers of the concept for adapting the building for the crafts centre, initially no additional buildings were supposed to be built near the Central Department Store.
“On the contrary, there was even a question of how to effectively use the existing space. There is a huge underground floor under the building and the square,” Yefimov noted and added that the first floor was supposed to be given over to trade in handicrafts, the second — for catering, craft workshops, as well as the residence of universities.
As noted by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, applications from potential residents of the centre are gradually being collected. For some time, this work was carried out by the Institute for Urban Development, but then the work was returned to Tatkultresurs, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture.
The modern building of the Central Department Store opened in 1977. In 2007, it was reconstructed and the retail space was increased. The shopping facility closed for a new reconstruction at the end of September 2023. The first tranche — 9.8 million rubles — came from the republican budget. According to an additional agreement between Glavstroy and Eurostroyholding+ LLC, the current work will cost 3.9 billion rubles.
