‘As we implement our ambitious strategy of foreign expansion, we see Riga as a market with a high degree of promise that is only just budding and has a lot of potential to grow. Once we develop the territory that we purchased at this strategic location, we will tap into the city’s potential and contribute to building an even more modern Riga, all the while maintaining the rapid pace of our own development. At this time, we are working on the development concept for the territory and are piecing together the optimal scenario for its expansion,’ says Lionginas Šepetys, SBA Urban’s Chairman of the Board.
SBA Urban’s latest acquisition is situated at a strategically attractive location at J. Čakstės 23, which has a well-developed transport infrastructure. The Riga Akropolis is just a few minutes away, it takes less than 15 minutes to reach the Old Town and the city centre, and 20 minutes to get to the airport by car.
This will be SBA Urban’s second property in Riga. In the beginning of the year, the company announced its plans to develop a hi-tech campus on a 7.3 ha land lot between the city centre of Latvia’s capital and the airport. The campus is expected to accommodate local and foreign hi-tech companies, educational establishments, laboratories. Within the framework of this project, as usual, SBA Urban will prioritise sustainable, innovative solutions and unique architectural expression. Developed in association with international consultants, the campus’s concept is being brought to completion: the campus is set to have 120,000 sq. m of commercial, residential, and recreational buildings.
Capitalica Asset Management, another SBA Group company, has made good progress developing Verde, a unique green office complex to conform to the nearly zero energy building (NZEB) standard in the district of Skanste, Riga. The 45,000 sq. m (underground parking included) business centre is scheduled for completion in 2023. The construction process is being managed by SBA’s Notus Developers, the contractor for the project is the Latvian company Velve.
Under the expansion strategy that was launched this year, SBA Urban has plans to invest EUR 400 million in newly developed projects: hi-tech campuses, e-commerce centres, wind villages, sustainable and innovative business centres over the next 5 years. All these directions for investment are bound by the cornerstone principles of sustainability, environmental cohesion, and minimisation of the CO2 footprint. One of the key aspects of the new strategy is international expansion.
As part of the SBA Group’s real estate sector, SBA Urban controls the Green Hall business valley in Vilnius and is developing the BLC business centre near the SBA-renovated Unity Square in Kaunas. SBA Urban has developed Capitalica Asset Management’s business centre Kauno Dokas, as well as a number of industrial buildings, such as the logistics centre Innovo Logistika and the furniture parts manufacturing facility Laminn in SBA’s industry innovation valley near Klaipėda. Later, these buildings were sold to the Estonian fund Eften. SBA Urban is currently engaged in developing Nemunaičiai, a block of residential buildings on the Nemunas river bank in Kaunas.
