“Through many years the idea, that offices and commercial premises were moving from the city centre, gradually giving way to cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops, was formed. This is a very superficial approach – the city center was and is a great place for diverse activities. In fact, what’s happening today is a peculiar turning back to history, when the first floors of buildings were allocated to shops and cafes and the offices and living quarters of the owners of these institutions settled on the upper floors. Of course, this model works differently today, but the basic principle has survived and is reflected in the concept of the building on the Didzioji St.” said “Solid Real Advisors” partner and Commercial projects manager Domas Jagminas.
According to him, the return of business to the old part of the city was determined by the rapidly growing popularity of coworking spaces and micro-offices. This is a global trend which has been affecting Lithuanian market on bigger scale over the past few years. By the way, about 70% of Vilnius and Kaunas city’s newly developed or planned business centres plan to have one or another form of coworking space.
The catalyst for this trend is the popularity of the startups. The dynamics of this type of business dictates their desire to set up an office for a flexible period of time and work together with other companies with similar profile. Now, according to the data of the association “Start-up Vilnius”, there are 268 startups in Vilnius.
According to Workland, the global coworking space market is growing 16% each year, and from 2016 about 77% of this kind offices are created in the city center. Trends are driven by the fast-growing community of startups, freelance workers and small businesses looking for flexible and comfortable workplaces. It is expected that the coworking space in Didzioji St. will also become a modern place for the growth of new companies.
“All former bank headquarters premises were leased in the term of 6 month after the decision to move. We analyzed three different scenarios, including hotel and of the whole building rental for offices or retailers, but the concept of retail space plus offices has proven to be the optimal solution. I would say that this model allows to effectively use the main advantages of the city center – location, prestige and human flows.” noted Domas Jagminas.
The restaurant “Queensberry”, located on the first floor of the building, will occupy 210 sq. m, the fashion store will open an area of 290 sq. m in the corner of the first floor, and the second and third floors (total – 1260 sq. m) will be occupied with “Workland” coworking space.
The owner of the building is UAB Nordija. “Solid Real Advisors” prepared the concept of the lease and implemented the tenant search project.
More information:
Domas Jagminas
“Solid Real Advisors” partner
+370 600 00457
domas.jagminas@solidreal.lt