U.S. Condo Project to Be Duplicated Outside Moscow

EAST HAVEN, Conn. — Will a luxurious condominium project lose anything in translation when builders try to duplicate its design near a lake outside Moscow?

Victor Malnev thinks not--even though concrete and steel will be substituted for wood. “Maybe it will even look nicer than here,” he said as he toured the Four Beaches condominium development on Long Island Sound.

Malnev is chairman of the Soviet farm collective Zavet Ilyicha, which is jointly developing the suburban Moscow project with Senie Kerschner International Housing Ltd. of Westport.

The 1,000-member collective will not only lease the land for the project but also provide produce for those living in the complex, the first of its kind in the Soviet Union, Malnev said.

Groundbreaking for the $130-million townhouse community, designed to house foreign businessmen, is scheduled for the end of September. The first of 528 units, to be built by a Finnish company, are expected to be ready by next July.

The international residential community, to be named Rosinka, is modeled on Four Beaches, a 135-unit condominium community consisting of three-story, wood-frame buildings and a network of wooden promenades and decks.

Rosinka’s three-story buildings will also have New England-style architecture, but without wood because the building code does not permit flammable materials, said Dick Williams, project manager for Kerschner.

Instead, Rosinka will be constructed of concrete with a steel molding designed to look like the cedar clapboard on the condos at Four Beaches, Williams said. The stairwell towers will be built of glass and concrete rather than pressure-treated wood.

Since the project was announced in April, at least 18 companies from the United States, Western Europe and Japan have reserved units, said Christopher Senie, secretary of Senie Kerschner International.

Apartment sizes at Rosinka will range from 1,248 square feet to 2,712 square feet for a two-story townhouse. Annual rents will range from $45,000 to $82,000.