A new centre of gravity for Kaunas
“After the Kaunas Unity plaza was renovated, it quickly became a centre of gravity for Kaunas residents and businesses. Convenient access to it by foot, public transport and car, which can be parked in the underground parking lot, led to a quick filling of the business centre we are developing, and today, almost all the buildings have reached 90 per cent tenancy,” says SBA Urban head of commerce Giedrius Muliuolis.
The new Citadele branch will settle on the ground floor of building D with a separate exit out into Unity plaza, and clients have been allocated parking spaces in the underground car park while for larger meetings, will be held in conference rooms in the complex. Clients will be able to get acquainted with the newest digital products and receive consultations on various pertinent financial questions, it is planned for the branch to start receiving clients at the beginning of summer.
“Our aim is to become a bank that offers its clients innovative financial products and provides the highest level of service, and we have particularly focused on renewing the network of our bank’s branches recently. Last year, we moved our central headquarters to the Green Hall office Centre which is managed by SBA Urban, in Vilnius, as well as the branch that operated in it, and this year, our Kaunas branch will move into these modern premises. Unity plaza has already become a centre of active public life because it is surrounded by various institutions, and so the new branch location will be particularly convenient for residents and business clients,” emphasises the Citadele bank Lithuanian section and administration chief Vaidotas Gurskas.
Success of long-term cooperation
The Citadele bank has been cooperating with SBA Urban for some time now, and according to G. Muliuolis, large companies are constantly on the lookout for reliable and professional partners, and so repeated contracts for renting premises are becoming a recognition of the real estate developer.
“The fact that organisations choose long-term cooperation is a significant recognition. When looking for reliable partners, companies require prompt responses to problems, and smooth arrangement of conditions and contracts. We believe that our long-term partners choose to develop their businesses together with us because they value their previous experiences, and trust our professionalism,” states Muliuolis.
He believes that Kaunas will continue to strengthen its positions as a city that businesses find appealing. It is convenient not only for large corporations and banking sector companies to settle in, but also for tech companies and start-ups. IT companies also turn to Kaunas to find potential staff who are educated in the city’s higher education institutions, as well as the increasing offerings of appealing, modern and sustainable business centres.
Premises in the BLC business centre are rented by the IT company cluster Blaster, Ernst & Young Baltic, Tele2 and others.
The BLC business centre, which is located near the Unity plaza, is developed by the company SBA Urban (previously – Urban Inventors) which manages the business valley Green Hall in Vilnius. SBA investment into the BLC 2 business centre and Unity Square reaches around 40 million euros. SBA Urban also developed the business centre Kauno Dokas, which is owned by Capitalica Asset Management, and it has developed the logistics centre Innovo Logistika and the building prefab factory Laminn in the SBA Industrial Innovation Valley near Klaipėda, later transferring these buildings to the Estonian fund Eften.
