DreamWorks Russia parks
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Today in the Moscow Times:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/st-petersburg-asked-to-back-500m-dreamworks-theme-park/483833.html

A major property developer is waiting for approval from St. Petersburg to build a $500 million theme park based around DreamWorks characters like Shrek by 2015.

Regions Group, Russia's fourth-largest retail property owner, wants to build an indoor park with 40 attractions and a three-star hotel with 400 rooms on a 35-hectare plot of land in the city's Krasnogvardeysky district, company official Olga Kudrina said.

"We want to start construction by the end of the year, and if that happens, we will be able to implement our project in 2015," she told a meeting of the St. Petersburg governor's investment council on Monday, RIA Novosti reported.

Regions Group entered into a licensing agreement with U.S.-based DreamWorks Animation earlier this year and also hopes to open similar indoor theme parks in Moscow and Yekaterinburg by 2015, according to information on both company's websites.

Regions Group is asking St. Petersburg City Hall to change the status of the desired land plot, currently designated as an industrial zone, to allow construction to start.

Kudrina said 15 billion rubles has been allotted for the park, which is to be based on characters from the film franchises "Shrek," "Madagascar" and "Puss in Boots."

St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko said Monday that his office would make a decision within two weeks.

The plans for the three Russian cities call for the first Disneyland-style theme parks in the country. Once completed, they would be the largest indoor theme parks in Europe, with each boasting a mixed-use movie and concert hall, 4D movie theater and a retail center with 11,000 parking spaces, in addition to the attractions and hotel.

"The height of each park will be 35 meters, comparable to a 13-floor building, giving visitors the sense of being outdoors," DreamWorks said in a statement in February.

Young Russian businessman Alec Mutsoev, a father of three, breaks into a smile when speaking about the new project. His family co-owns GK Regions — the Russian partner of DreamWorks Animation.

"Seeing my children's eyes sparkle when they watch these animated films makes me want to bring similar joy to other children in Russia, in the form of theme parks," he told RBTH

GK Regions, where Alec serves as a board member, is set to build three DreamWorks Animation indoor theme parks in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, covering a total area of 10.7 million square feet. The project will cost $1 billion, with 30 percent funded by the company itself and the other 70 percent financed through bank loans. The construction sites for St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg have already been selected. Negotiations on the Moscow site are still in progress.

The ticket price will be around the market average: $50–80, including all rides.

The first park is scheduled to open in 2015.

Source:
http://rbth.ru/business/2013/02/21/dreamworks_to_build_three_theme_parks_in_russia_23107.html

Some details revealed:

In each instance, the indoor parks will be part of a larger entertainment development featuring a mixed use movie and concert hall, 4D movie theatre, three-star 400-room hotel and a retail centre.

To give visitors a sense of being outdoors, the height of each park will be 35 metres (comparable to a 13 floor building).

Each will include attractions and character entertainment to bring to life franchises including Shrek, Madagascar, How To Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda. The latest DreamWorks movie - Turbo - will also be featured.

http://www.licensing.biz/news/10838/Now-DreamWorks-plans-theme-parks-in-Russia

Locations of the three DreamWorks parks:



More at Disney and more:
http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2013/02/dreamworks-ceo-jeffrey-katzenberg.html

This made big news between Feb 15-17, 2013:

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. is partnering with Regions GC to open new theme parks in Russia.

(...) the studio released a statement today detailing its future collaboration with the property development and management firm to develop, what it promises to be, Europe’s largest year round indoor entertainment zone in three major cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

"Russia is one of the most important markets in the world for us," said DreamWorks Animation's Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg. "All of us at DWA are extremely excited to work with REGIONS CG to be the first Hollywood studio to create not just one, but three theme parks in Russia."

DreamWorks indoor parks in Russia are expected to be completed by 2015.

Source:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dreamworks-plans-three-theme-parks-421900

And here's more:

Russian developer Regions Group said it planned to invest around $3 billion in the construction of three theme parks under a licensing agreement with Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc.

The parks are scheduled to open in 2015 in Moscow, Russia's second-biggest city of St Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg in the Urals and are expected to be the largest year-round indoor entertainment zones in Europe, Dreamworks said on Friday.

Regions Group will be the sole investor in the project, its co-owner and board member Amiran Mutsoev told a news conference, adding the firm planned to attract loans, primarily from state-run Sberbank and Gazprombank.

Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/17/dreamworks-russia-parks-idUSL6N0BH1E020130217

Status: announced