A Window of Opportunity. Is It Worth Investing in Real Estate During Wartime: The Futura Hata View 

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, developer Futura Hata has not paused construction. Over this period, the team has put four buildings of the Svitlo Park residential complex into operation, with a combined area of more than 73,000 sq m.

Futura Hata is a development company that creates and invests in multifunctional urban spaces. Over more than 15 years, the team has delivered or invested in landmark projects in Kyiv, among them the IQ Business Center and 101 Tower office buildings, and the Comfort Town, Svitlo Park, Edeldorf Hills, and White Lines residential complexes.

How the housing market has changed and what kind of return this segment can generate — in a Forbes BrandVoice interview with Roman Valesyuk, owner of Futura Hata.

Building during wartime

During the war, youʼve commissioned four buildings in the Svitlo Park project. What made you decide to keep going despite the obvious risks?

In a moment of crisis, a company can declare force majeure and freeze construction. But then it risks losing its main asset — its team. Keeping skilled people on board is far cheaper than assembling and rebuilding a workforce from scratch later on.

Another factor is purely economic. Even if construction is halted, the costs donʼt go away — you still have to pay for security, administration, and accounting. Meanwhile, the project remains unfinished, and the cost of completing it only grows. And finally, the most important thing — our responsibility to investors.

People trusted us with their money, so we had to deliver on our commitments.

How has the war changed what people expect from housing? What is the new standard for new builds today?

The most obvious requirement is safety. At Edeldorf Hills, that role is now played, among other things, by a three-level underground parking garage that was built before the war. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, it has taken on an added function — a space residents can use as a shelter.

The next requirement is energy independence. Before 2022, having generators was seen as a nice-to-have; today itʼs a must. The complex has backup power that keeps the elevators, security systems, CCTV, and lighting in common areas running.

There are also less obvious but important changes. For example, at Svitlo Park and White Lines we install windows with laminated (triplex) glass — a multilayer tempered glass that doesnʼt send fragments flying into the room on impact.

Has the buyer profile shifted in recent years?

Not fundamentally, though there have been some changes. Roughly half of our buyers are people who have already dealt with our projects before. They come back — buying homes for their children, their parents, or themselves.

At the same time, buyers have become noticeably more attentive and more demanding. People study the paperwork in detail, ask about technical decisions, and follow up with lots of questions. Developers even have a saying: if two new clients walk in, one of them is bound to be a lawyer, and the other a builder.

Your portfolio includes the large-scale urban project Svitlo Park and the premium-class Edeldorf Hills. How are their buyers different? 

These are different asset classes, and therefore different audiences.

• At Svitlo Park, the price per square meter starts at around $1,300. Buyers here make active use of installment plans and often enter the project at early stages of construction.
• At Edeldorf Hills, the price per square meter ranges from $2,800 to $5,000. Buyers here rarely use installment plans and hardly ever get into the legal detail of contracts. What matters to them is seeing a finished product — the architecture, the lobby, the landscaped grounds. Only then do they decide to buy.

But in both projects, one-bedroom apartments sell the fastest. This format remains the most liquid — both for renting out and for reselling down the line. 

Real estate as an investment

What kind of return can you expect from investing in housing?

It depends on the specific project, the location, and the moment you enter the investment. But as a general benchmark, an apartment worth around $50,000 can generate roughly $500 in rental income per month — about 10–12% annual return in dollar terms.

And rental income is only part of the return. The asset itself is appreciating — the investor also gets potential capital gains when the apartment is sold in the future. Even during the war, the market has not seen a decline in prices. We, for example, havenʼt cut the price per square meter — weʼve only temporarily paused any revisions.

Is it worth investing in real estate right now, or is it better to wait until the war ends? 

Some buyers have been waiting for prices to collapse for a long time. But we donʼt see that scenario playing out. Thereʼs the cost of land, building materials, labor, logistics, and energy — all of that sets a floor for the base cost, below which prices simply canʼt go.

In my view, once the war ends, the market will get an additional boost. Some of the Ukrainians currently abroad will return, reconstruction programs will ramp up, and international capital will grow more interested. So an investor who steps in today buys the asset at current prices. Anyone who chooses to wait will most likely be buying on different — and higher — terms.

An investor can choose between real estate, securities, and bank deposits. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of these instruments?  

Building the future

You have projects in Spain and the UAE. What do you take from international markets, and what, conversely, do you export from Ukraine? 

This may sound surprising, but in many respects Ukrainian development is on par with — and in some cases ahead of — certain international markets. We bring our construction-quality standards and our approach to organizing processes with us to those markets.

For all the challenges, the Ukrainian pace of decision-making and project delivery remains faster than in some European markets (weʼve also built in Germany and the UK).

For example, I have to say Iʼve been pleasantly surprised for several years now by the work of Ukraineʼs State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning (DIAM). The body that issues certificates and sign-offs confirming a project is ready for occupancy works in a way that is transparent and easy to follow.

In the opposite direction, from abroad we adopt approaches in landscaping and public spaces — everything from courtyard planning to playgrounds, greenery, and elements of urban infrastructure.

What new projects are you planning to launch over the next few years? 

Weʼre launching a new phase of Svitlo Park — two residential buildings, with sales opening very soon. In parallel, weʼre working on new projects that reflect our vision of the modern urban environment: more green space, larger courtyards, and comfortable distances between buildings. We want to build on the approaches that have proven themselves at Svitlo Park and Comfort Town, but take them to the next level.

This year we plan to complete our partner project, the White Lines shopping and entertainment center, and also to break ground on new residential projects: two buildings in the Holosiivskyi district and one more on the left bank of Kyiv. 

In short, our focus is unchanged: to keep building — on a larger and more systematic scale.

How do you see the role of the developer in the rebuilding of Ukraine?

Iʼm convinced that developers are part of Ukraineʼs recovery. The statistics show that every $1 invested in construction generates up to $5 of economic activity in adjacent industries: metals, building materials, woodworking, furniture, logistics, and services. So behind every new project there are thousands of jobs and dozens of businesses.

And Ukraineʼs reconstruction doesnʼt start the moment peace arrives — it starts now, with every new project that moves from the drawing board into reality.