The key facts
- The block through which inmates passed before being taken out of the detention center has been dismantled
- The complex was sold to the KVS group for 1.1 billion rubles in 2025
- Plans: two hotels, a multimedia museum, a promenade, about 1,200 jobs, completion by 2030
Demolition has begun
Partial demolition of buildings has begun on the territory of the former pre-trial detention center Kresty in Saint Petersburg. According to the Telegram channel Baza, workers have already dismantled the block that was used to prepare inmates for escort: it was through these rooms that prisoners passed before being taken out of the detention center, where special transport pulled up. Demolition work on the site continues.
Who owns the complex and what is planned there
In 2025, the historic prison complex was sold to the construction group KVS for 1.1 billion rubles. Life.ru notes that under the project, the two main cross-shaped buildings will be converted into hotels with spa facilities and restaurants — 262 rooms in total; interior walls will be partially dismantled, but the historic brick vaults and metal galleries are to be preserved. Gazeta.Ru adds that the new owners promised to preserve the historic buildings, and the reconstruction is planned to be completed by 2030.
What the authorities promised
Back last year, Saint Petersburg deputy governor Nikolai Linchenko reportedthat a multimedia museum, two hotel complexes and a pedestrian promenade would appear on the territory of the former detention center. According to him, once the work is completed, the complex will create about 1,200 new jobs and become a space open to residents and visitors of the city. Thus, the demolition that has begun is the first visible step in implementing these plans, although sources do not report the timelines of individual stages, apart from the general 2030 horizon.
History of the complex
The Kresty prison complex was built at the end of the 19th century to a design by the architect Antoni Tomishko. Over the existence of the detention center, hundreds of thousands of people passed through it — from pickpockets and gangsters to poets and generals; in 125 years, successful escapes, according to Gazeta.Ru, numbered only a few. In December 2024, a correspondent of the publication visited the abandoned prison, and earlier OMON officers discovered a secret fight club there.
