"Our experience with exceptional projects, such as Green Hall in Vilnius or Vienybės Square and BLC in Kaunas, shows that international architectural firms in cooperation with Lithuanian developers create unique, city-beautifying centres of attraction that win international design competitions. We are also raising the bar high with our first new-concept e-commerce and logistics campus project. We hope that our cooperation with world-class developers will enrich Lithuania with new ideas and unique projects," says Giedrius Muliuolis, CEO at SBA Urban.
The main criteria for judging the entries will be an architectural expression, functional planning, the rational layout of the buildings, and ease of pedestrian and traffic flow.
"The aim of the competition is to ensure that the entire territory, which will be clearly visible to those driving along the motorway and to those going to Kaunas Airport, will have a unified style, be complete and exceptional. We will pay special attention to green, recreational and leisure areas. They should be designed for visitors, employees or customers of all ages," says Rasa Pečiulaitė, project manager at SBA Urban.
According to her, several foreign and Lithuanian architectural firms have already confirmed their participation since the competition was launched.
SBA Urban's land in Biruliškės is right next to a transport hub where the Vilnius-Kaunas-Klaipėda motorway intersects with Savanorių Avenue, and a few kilometres away is Kaunas Airport. The international Via Baltica highway and the future Rail Baltica railway also cross Kaunas. The 13-hectare site will provide up to 70,000 sqm of space for retail, logistics and warehousing businesses. The aim is to create a complete e-commerce ecosystem where businesses will be not only able to position themselves, receive, store and distribute ordered goods, but also provide live customer service. Since the announcement of the plans for the e-commerce campus, some of the country's largest e-commerce and logistics companies have expressed interest in settling in here. Starting from the Kaunas region, the concept is planned to be extended beyond Lithuania. The most promising locations for such projects are currently being identified.
Once all the necessary permits have been arranged and the project has been approved, construction on the SBA Urban site should start next year. The e-commerce hub project will be developed by Notus Developers, a real estate project and construction management company belonging to the SBA Group.
According to the development strategy launched this year, SBA Urban plans to invest EUR 400 million in various projects over the next five years. New areas of development include high-tech campuses, e-commerce centres, wind farms while continuing to develop sustainable and innovative business centres. All projects are united by the core principles of sustainability, environmental compatibility and reduction of CO2 emissions. One of the key aspects of the new strategy is international development.
SBA Urban, part of the SBA Group's real estate sector, manages the Green Hall business valley in Vilnius. In Kaunas, it is developing the business centre BLC, next to the Vienybės Square, which has been renovated by SBA. SBA Urban has developed the business centre Kauno Dokas, owned by Capitalica Asset Management. SBA also developed industrial buildings, such as the logistics centre Innovo Logistika and the furniture production plant Laminn in the SBA Industrial Innovation Valley near Klaipėda, which were later sold to the Estonian fund Eften. Currently, SBA Urban is developing the residential bloc Nemunaičiai on the banks of the Nemunas river in Kaunas.
