Recognition of BREEAM assessors and the Excellent Certificate prove that Verde business centre will be developed in the centre of Riga in compliance with the highest sustainability standards. According to Andrius Barštys, the CEO of Capitalica Asset Management, “Our strategy is to invest and develop only sustainable and environmentally friendly projects that contain the newest technologies and provide customers with an innovative and productive work environment. Thus, we comply with the standards of “green buildings” from the very beginning of the new project”.
He states that business centres in the capital of Latvia are rarely granted BREEAM Excellent certificates. The Verde project has received the most favourable evaluations in the categories of ecology, use of land, water management, communications and waste management.
Evaldas Savickis, the head of the business evaluation company Vesta Consulting, states that “In this project, the implementation of modern sustainability standards was one of the core aspects of BREEAM assessment. We paid special attention to energy efficiency and savings. The specialists of Vesta Consulting analysed different models of the complex of buildings and selected the most energy-efficient solutions, such as passive design or smart energy accounting system. We have agreed with the customer that the project should involve experts in several different fields and we hope that Verde will be called the most sustainable building in Riga’s Skanste district.”
According to Andrius Barštys, the pandemic and quarantine did not stop the Verde project. At the beginning of the year, the tender for the general contractor was announced and attracted a lot of attention from participants in the construction market. Currently, the tender is at the final stage after which the contract with the winner will be signed and construction works will be launched.
The environmentally-friendly A-class complex of two business centres Verde will be raised in the central part of Riga, in the most prospective Skanste district. It will be distinctive due to implemented green technologies, as it will contain silent ventilation systems and natural lighting for each working place. Five storeys of each building will have large green terraces where the employees can relax, change their working environment or have lunch.
Verde has been designed by famous Latvian architect Andris Kronbergs. The business centre with underground parking will occupy an area of 45 thousand sq. m. and will be one of the largest business centres in the capital of Latvia. Total planned investments to the project will exceed 60 mln. eur. The first stage of construction is planned to be completed in 2022, while the second one in 2023.
Verde will belong to Capitalica Baltic Real Estate Fund I, a real estate fund managed by Capitalica Asset Management, a company of the SBA Group. Latvian and Lithuanian pension funds managed by INVL Asset Management and other professional investors have invested in this fund. According to audited data, in 2019 Capitalica Baltic Real Estate Fund I earned a profit of 4.4 million eur.
Capitalica Asset Management that manages Capitalica Baltic Real Estate Fund I engages in management of commercial real estate in the Baltic States. In addition to the project that is being developed in Riga, Capitalica Baltic Real Estate Fund I manages the business centre 135 in Vilnius, business centre Kauno dokas in Kaunas, the second largest Lithuanian city, and shopping centre Luizė in Lithuania’s port city Klaipėda,. The investment management company was established in 2016. Its controlling stake (70%) belongs to one of the largest Lithuanian capital business groups SBA, while 30% of shares belong to Fox Holdings, a company of A. Barštis.
