OREANDA-NEWS. The first three months of 2016 have been eventful for the real estate development group Pillar: the developed project Miera Park House has been recognized as the best new residential building of the last year, development of construction projects of two new apartment buildings has been started, and good sales results have been achieved.

The award granted to the premium apartment building Miera Park House (Riga, 57a Miera Street) at the beginning of the year is proof of the quality of our work. The mentioned project was named the best new residential building in the competition ‘Annual Latvian Construction Award 2015’. It should be noted that the high quality of the building was appreciated by both specialists in this area and the clients: 25% of the apartments available in this building have already been sold.

Continuing the development of the finance and leisure centre New Hanza City (NHC), Pillar has concluded agreements on the development of construction projects of two apartment buildings that will be located in the NHC residential area. The construction projects of both buildings are supposed to be completed by the end of 2016. Pillar has also invited several experienced Latvian architecture bureaus to develop ideas for reconstruction of the warehouse building of the former Riga railway goods station. This is the only building that will be preserved in the NHC territory, and it is supposed to become a multifunctional cultural centre. The first construction works – installation of engineering systems in the NHC territory – will be started as early as Q2 2016.

During the first three months of the year, Pillar continued selling the items of its real estate portfolio – there were 53 sale transactions madewith the total amount of EUR 2.98 million. The highest activity level is still observed at the secondary market orthe market of uniform apartments, as well as the demand at the market of private houses and land plots has increased. Therefore, Pillar launched a campaign under which private houses are offered with the discount of up to 35%, whereas the discount for land plots can exceed 60%.

‘The first three months of the year have proved our forecasts to be right – the level of demand and prices at the secondary apartment market remained the same. In the segment of new projects in Riga centre, stagnation is observed, whereas there are positive trends regarding new projects in the suburbs, especially concerning the transactions below or about EUR 100 thousand. As spring is nearing, the interest in land plots and houses is growing. The prices of the most demanded private houses on the market are slightly above EUR 100 thousand’, noted Ieva Valtere, Chief Executive Officer of Pillar Management, SIA.

Pillar group, established in 2008, is owned by the largest private bank in Latvia ABLV Bank, AS and it includes companies that operate in the field of real estate development, management, and trade. Pillar group includes Pillar Management, SIA, Pillar Holding Company, KS, New Hanza City, SIA, and other companies. In total, Pillar supervises about 400 properties worth approximately EUR 50 million. So far, the company has invested a total of EUR 20 million in renovation of properties. Since 2013, Pillar has been the major sponsor of the Annual Award in Latvian Architecture organized by the Latvian Association of Architects.