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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 18:46

Riga to lead Baltic states in construction of new retail property in few years

BC, Riga, 21.03.2018.Print version
Over the next couple of years, Riga will be leading other Baltic states in construction of new retail property, Eriks Bergmanis, a partner at Colliers International real estate consultancy, said at the presentation of the latest Baltic real estate market overview, cites LETA.

It is planned that 160,000 square meters of new retail property will be constructed by 2020 in Riga, 100,000 square meters in Tallinn and 56,000 square meters in Vilnius.


Last year, 44,500 square meters of new retail property was completed in Tallinn, 11,600 square meters in Riga and 3,600 square meters in Vilnius.


Bergmanis explained that even if all the development projects are completed as scheduled, the average size of retail space per capita will be 1.28 square meters in Riga, 1.26 square meters in Vilnius and 1.89 square meters in Tallinn.


“Development in Riga and Vilnius has been balanced and, judging by this figure, there is still room for new shopping centers there. There are some concerns about Tallinn where market saturation has been reached already,” Bergmanis said, warning that not all shopping centers planned in the Estonian capital may prove equally successful.


Last year, the share of vacant retail space was 4.1% in Riga, 1% in Tallinn and 1.6% in Vilnius.


“Purchasing power has been slowly rising in all three Baltic states, although it is still roughly 30% below the EU average. Nevertheless, it tends to grow. Furthermore, there are still new brands that are not yet represented on the Baltic market, but they are gradually entering these markets. Brand owners see that purchasing power in the Baltics is stronger than in Bulgaria or Romania, so they choose the Baltics,” Bergmanis said.






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