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WELCOME TO THE BALTIC LOGISTICS & MANUFACTURING SYMPOSIUM 2024!

This conference brings together industry leaders and professionals from around the Baltics to explore the dynamic landscape of large-scale industrial enterprises, both local and international. Our focus revolves around topics such as regional nearshoring and reshoring tendencies, sustainable building features, and next-generation smart manufacturing. Additionally, the conference location, Riga, is currently experiencing the highest public infrastructure investments in 30 years. We will discuss whether this will bring growth to the logistics and industrial sectors and when we can expect to see this growth.

As the region’s infrastructure continues to develop, with initiatives such as Rail Baltica and expanding intermodal hubs, the potential for international companies to establish a presence in the region is expected to grow further. Recent industrial market success stories have shown that there is much interrelation with Airport hubs, Ports & Free (Special) Economic Zones. Should we focus more on capturing this low-hanging fruit?

The Baltic Logistics & Manufacturing Symposium 2024 will serve as a platform for in-depth discussions and collaborations aimed at unleashing the full potential of the industrial and logistical sectors in the region. Our distinguished keynote speakers are set to deliver insights that will shape the way we perceive and drive industrial advancements.

Join us at the Baltic Logistics & Manufacturing Symposium 2024 as we embark on a journey towards industrial and logistics growth in the Baltic region.
Symposium is organized by the leading Latvian business news platform Dienas Bizness in cooperation with international real estate advisory company – CBRE Baltics.

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DATE: 17 April 2024
TIME: 10:00 – 17:00
VENUE: Music House Daile (Kr.Barona iela 31, Riga, Latvia)

TARGET AUDIENCE: developers, investors and tenants of industrial space. Representatives of logistics, manufacturing, warehouse, self storage and other related sectors. Opinion leaders and policy makers who follow trends and responds to opportunities – meet your peers by joining us for productive discussions, powerful impressions of best practices and future trends!

PARTICIPATION:
THE REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! Don’t miss the opportunity to register your participation at the best price!
EARLY BIRD offer until 04.02.2024
– One person: EUR 380 + VAT
– Three or more participants from one company: EUR 360 + VAT

30% discount for CBRE corporate clients and partners, Dienas Bizness subscribers*:
– One person: EUR 266 + VAT
– Three or more participants from one company: EUR 252 + VAT

Click HERE to register and read more!

* discount applies to annual subscribers only.
Subscribe to the digital or printed edition and attend the event at a lower price!

Join the Baltic Retail Symposium to discover everything you need to know in the world of retail!

2023 was a long-awaited year for the retail market, when life gradually should have returned to the new normal. The market has, however, kept rolling along and retailers in the Baltics have now reached the next crossroad of changes.  

The shaky economic backdrop, soaring inflation, and temporarily declining purchasing power are forming a new set of challenges for the year ahead. The consumer is changing as well. Visitors are becoming more selective, reviewing what they wish to consume and are questioning their priorities. The term “competition” has also broadened as never before. Consumers are moving and deciding quickly, buying everywhere – online and offline, on the ground and up in the sky. This brings an even greater need for, and a new understanding of data, research, and solutions for building loyalty in new experiential ways.
 
New generations. New technologies. New sustainable thinking. New digital experience. New adaptive concepts.  New customer expectations.
 
To be resilient, retail market needs to address all of the above. And, any other property sector should integrate retail as part of its future strategy. But how?
 

Join the Baltic Retail Symposium 2023 to hear how market leaders are responding to changes and creating new opportunities.
 
Time: 28th February 2023, 10:00 – 20:00
Venue: Radisson Blu Latvija Conference & Spa Hotel, 55 Elizabetes Str., Riga and online
Working language: English

We invite you to use the CBRE Baltics corporate clients and partners, Dienas Bizness subscribers 30% discount.

Book your seat here

By investing 2 million EUR, a new concept space – a food hall – to be created in Riga, in s/c “Galerija Centrs”. The food hall concept, created by masterminds of hospitality and interior design in Latvia, will be a new and exciting taste journey to modern foodies and taste enthusiasts. 

The unique concept food hall is implemented by the real estate fund “Baltic Horizon Fund”. and will open the doors in the beginning of 2023.

The concept is being developed, leased and managed by the real estate management and consultancy company CBRE Baltics. The concept will open the doors in the beginning of 2023.

 

Full news articles:

EN: A new concept space – a food hall – to be created in Galerija Centrs

LV: Galerija Centrs top jauna koncepta vieta – garšu un notikumu telpa

 

Join us in person or online to discover what is hiding behind the real estate’s continuing resilience

How can we attract attention to Baltic real estate in the face of rising construction costs, economic turbulence, regional geopolitical risks, the global pandemic and the availability of current financing?
 
Join Dienas Bizness, which will bring industry leaders together in collaboration with CBRE Baltics, to discuss recent changes, current challenges, and perspectives for the Baltic commercial real estate market in 2022. The core focus at the conference will be on the development of Riga city and its potential, as well as the residential and hospitality sectors in the Baltics.
 
Don’t miss early bird registration up until 15^th July to enjoy a rewarding networking day in Riga!

Date and time: 15^th September, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Place: Business Garden Riga, Malduguņu Street 2, Mārupe
Language: English, Latvian (translation provided) 

We invite you to use the CBRE Baltics corporate clients and partners, Dienas Bizness subscribers 30% discount.

Book your seat here

November 30, 2021

We are proud to be part of and invite you to Commercial Real Estate Sector conference which will take place online on December 1st, 2021. 

Date and time: 
December 1st, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. to 15:00 p.m. 
Place: 
www.db.lv/konferences.db.lv online.
Language: 
Latvian and English (translation provided) 
We invite you to use the CBRE Baltics corporate clients and members of Latvian Real Estate Association LANĪDA 15% discount.

Further information about the conference, topics and participants: here

May 13, 2021

Baltic Horizon Fund has selected CBRE Baltics, which is part of global real estate and investment leader CBRE’s affiliate network, as its main partner for property management and accounting services. CBRE Baltics will provide commercial real estate management, rental, accounting, maintenance and marketing services to the fund in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The portfolio of properties managed by Baltic Horizon Fund consists of 15 commercial real estate properties in the capital cities of the Baltic States, with a total leasable area of 153 thousand sq. metres. The fund owns the Europa shopping centre, as well as the Domus Pro shopping centre and office complex, the Duetto and North Star business centres, Galerija Centrs, Postimaja and other sites. The total value of the fund’s property portfolio exceeds EUR 355 million.

Baltic Horizon Fund publishes and implements an international tender on a regular basis every three years, in accordance with the fund’s competition procedures and the highest compliance standards. Until now, Baltic Horizon Fund’s property management and accounting services have been provided by several companies; however, the main partner has been BPT Real Estate since 2008.

As of 1st September 2021, CBRE Baltics will be the main partner of Baltic Horizon Fund, and will be providing services for the entire portfolio of the fund. In addition, Censeo will provide services to the Lithuanian business centres Duetto and North Star, as well as to the Domus Pro shopping centre and office complex along with CBRE Baltics.

“This year, we received nine very strong candidates in our international tender. We would like to thank everyone who paid such great attention to the foundation and provided high quality and professional tender materials. The existing experience and expertise, as well as compliance with our values and a shared vision of the future in all Baltic countries, were important factors in selecting our partners. This is especially important as we are starting to move forward in the post-pandemic period, to implement the necessary changes and ensure the successful performance of the fund. We would like to thank our former partners: BPT Real Estate, Bauplan Nord and YIT Lietuva, for their many years of cooperation on a stage filled with all kinds of experience and challenges,” said Tarmo Karotam, Manager of Baltic Horizon Fund.

“We appreciate the trust that Baltic Horizon Fund has placed in us – this partnership is important for establishing our presence and expanding in the Baltic States. In recent years, we have worked purposefully in order to expand our competencies and services in different real estate sectors. At present, real estate management requires not only the ability to change but also the assurance of growth. We believe that in addition to our local presence and knowledge, CBRE’s global experience and existing competencies, combined with the highest standards of sustainability in the environmental, social and governance fields, will allow us to achieve the best results for our partnership in an ever-changing environment,” said Santa Rozenkopfa, Managing Director of CBRE Baltics.

According to Rozenkopfa, despite the global pandemic, the economies in the Baltic region have exceeded the forecasts made at the beginning of 2020 – businesses have been able to adapt flexibly to the recent changes, while the situation regarding the easing of restrictions is currently looking cautiously optimistic. Therefore, it is time to start actively preparing for the post-pandemic period and the slow return to normal, but at the same time finding different ways of working, shopping, enjoying entertainment and relaxing.

CBRE Baltics provides a broad range of integrated commercial real estate services to developers, investors and occupiers in the Baltic States, including strategic consulting, property sales, leasing, facility and property management, project management, market research, real estate due diligence and valuation. CBRE Baltics currently has offices in Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn, and is part of the CBRE Affiliate Network.

Baltic Horizon Fund is a registered contractual public closed-end real estate fund that is managed by alternative investment management company, Northern Horizon Capital AS. The fund is listed on the Nasdaq Tallinn and Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchanges.

April 22, 2021

We are thrilled to be supporting the “Developments in the Market for New Real Estate” conference, focusing on changes in Latvia. We invite you to participate in this long-awaited online business event.

Date and time:
Thursday 29th April, 2021, from 9:30am to 3:00pm.

►Conference language – Latvian and English. Live online broadcast with supported translation;
►The conference will be recorded so that you can watch it whenever it is convenient for you;
►Panel speakers from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia who represent the current leading real estate developers and investors in Latvia.

At the conference, we will be focussing particular attention on current developments in the residential sector, a sustainability agenda for the city and real estate, upcoming changes in Riga’s spatial vision and improved city governance.

We welcome you to use the CBRE Baltics discount of 15% as a way for us to express our appreciation to you for our long-term industry connection.

Further information about the conference, topics and participants: here

March 17, 2021

What will be different in the future?

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1.Remote work is here to stay.

Remote work desires are (and have been) growing. Organizations are preparing to meet this demand, and future competition for talent will take place over the battlegrounds of not just flexible work policies, but also flexible work support such as stipends, home office equipment, and technologies. Organizations will also need to focus on maintaining and strengthening their culture for remote employees.

2.The office is here to stay, too.

The physical office still has a role to play even in a more mobile future, but it will be designed to support flexibility and choice. Companies will rethink the role of a single HQ in favor of a broader ecosystem of work sites that may include regional offices, coworking spaces, and home to support increasing and ongoing mobility.

3. Space allocations will favor “we space” over “me space.”

To influence employees to use the office as their destination of choice, occupiers must rethink what their offices can deliver that is unique compared to the experience of working remote.
The office’s new purpose will be to provide a venue for community, culture and collaboration. Employees will be spending less time on individual/focused tasks while on-site and more time collaborating, networking and socializing. The composition of the office will adjust to reflect this change.

4. Conferencing will adapt to “mixed presence” collaboration.

Technology that connects on-site employees to remote employees will become standard builds in conference rooms. Tools such as virtual whiteboarding software, smartboards, synchronous and asynchronous communication platforms and large format telepresence devices will lessen the disadvantages of virtually joining an in-person meeting.

5.Amenities strategies will focus on hospitality and services.

To create a “magnetized” office that people want to come to, amenities will focus on creating a welcoming environment, supporting employee health & well-being and enhancing the convenience of working on-site.6.Desk sharing occupancy strategies will continue to grow in popularity.

6.Desk sharing occupancy strategies will continue to grow in popularity.

“Free-address” occupancy strategies that entail desk sharing — with enhanced cleaning protocols to support health and safety — are an increasingly attractive solution for occupiers that wish to optimize office utilization in a more mobile future world.
Larger occupiers will experiment with desk reservation systems to facilitate the transition.

7.Employees will demand more “elbow room.”

The pandemic will have a lasting impact on employee consciousness of health and well-being in the workplace. Beyond requirements for physical distancing, workstations and conference rooms will continue to be reconfigured to allow for greater separation between employees. Occupiers will not necessarily need to buy new, larger furniture standards though. Most will address these concerns via neighborhood planning and circulation.

8.Healthy building design and operation will take center stage.

COVID-19 has underscored the connection between buildings and wellness. As landlords and employees compete for tenants and employees respectively, differentiated workplace environments will be those that innovate in the field of well-being in the workplace and address a broad spectrum of health beyond just the physical.

9.How we define and measure workplace performance will change.

If workplaces exist to support the business enterprise and the people who occupy them, CRE success metrics should present a balanced scorecard and align to broader company goals. People-centric measures will become more common in the future to reflect the holistic intentions of workplace design.

10.Partnerships between CRE, HR and IT will strengthen.

More than ever before, delivering a high-performing workplace experience will depend on the thoughtful integration of space, people and technology. To navigate this interdisciplinary field, we will likely see an evolution in the role of “Head of Corporate Real Estate” towards a more elevated and strategic position of “Chief Places Officer.”

THE TOP 5 SKILLS OF THE CHIEF PLACES OFFICER:

More than ever before, delivering a high-performing workplace experience will depend on the thoughtful integration of space, people and technology. To navigate this interdisciplinary field, we will likely see an evolution in the role of “Head of Corporate Real Estate” towards a more elevated and strategic position of “Chief Places Officer.”

1. Superior command of the core business
2. Financial acumen
3. Exceptional collaboration and partnering skills
4. A forward-thinking visionary
5. Leadership skill born in brick and mortar, but with an emphasis on hearts and minds

 

March 02, 2021

March 2nd, 2021 – Riga, Latvia: BTA Baltic Insurance Company has acquired a large residential portfolio in Riga (properties located at 121 Ģertrūdes Street, 13 Alauksta Street and 35 Artilērijas Street) from the Rentejas real estate private equity firm. This is the largest ever portfolio transaction in the multi-family residential sector in Latvia.

Wolfgang Stockmeyer, Chairman of the Board at BTA Management, said: “We are very pleased to announce the acquisition of an attractive residential portfolio with a strong operational platform, and with this transaction, we are investing in a very stable and well performing asset class. With this transaction, we underline our trust in the Latvian economy and prove our intentions to invest further in our business in Latvia.”

The portfolio includes seven residential buildings at three locations comprising more than 170 tenanted units, all well-located in the central part of the City of Riga.
The seller is SIA Rentejas, which is a Latvian-Austrian capital company which specializes in the reconstruction and management of rental houses and provides full-service property management services. The partners have agreed not to disclose the scope of the investment. This is the first major investment by BTA Baltic Insurance Company in the private rental residential portfolio in Riga.

Kārlis Gabrilovičs, a board member at SIA Rentējas, comments: “The deal with BTA provides additional funding for our current development sites and allows us to take on new projects. Our business model is to fully renovate distressed historical buildings in Riga’s city centre and to bring them up to modern comfort and environmental standards – without compromising the historical flair of the buildings. Our pipeline contains over 100 new rental apartments on Avotu, A. Čaka, and K. Valdemāra streets. As an operator, we strongly believe in building up relationships with each of Rentējas’ individual tenants, and this has helped us through this very troubling pandemic.”

Felix Waechter, Managing Director at ILAG, the main shareholder of SIA Rentējas, added: “We are very pleased with the portfolio that we have managed to build in Riga over the last decade and are confident our buildings are in good hands with BTA, the new owners. We owe our success to our Latvian partners who have created a product that is in high demand – well-designed and well-managed living space in the heart of the city. We are also thrilled to serve the broader community by restoring abandoned architectural landmarks.”

This rental residential portfolio transaction is the largest transaction ever in the multi-family sector in Latvia. The multi-family sector in the Baltics is in its initial development stage. However, we see positive trends for this asset to become more attractive in future.

Vineta Vigupe, Director of Investment Properties at CBRE Baltics: “It is worth noting that the residential sector was less affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and showed high resilience across Europe in 2020. Growth in multi-family housing investment has been observed in recent years, becoming the largest asset class by investment volume in 2020. The private rental housing sector continues to attract developer and investor interest in the region and beyond. We are also seeing more activity in the multifamily sector in Riga and interest should remain strong”.

CBRE Baltics represented the buyer, acting as a full-service transaction advisor, including valuation and technical due diligence services.

February 02, 2021

A new survey from global real estate advisor, CBRE shows that Covid-19 remains an important consideration for occupiers and will continue to drive demand for space in Europe. CBRE’s first European Logistics Occupier Survey, in conjunction with Analytiqa, analysed responses from more than 100 of the largest European logistics occupiers with a combined footprint of more than 40 million square metres across manufacturing, online and general retail, supermarkets and third-party logistics.

The survey shows that 47% of respondents highlighted a long term need for flexible storage space, with 36% of occupiers looking to accelerate their plans to ensure logistics facilities are ready to cope with increased demand from the rapid growth of the online channel.

Respondents also showed a willingness to explore non-traditional locations, outside of the core logistics hubs, to accommodate their expansion. A total of 64% of online retailers admitted that they would consider non-traditional locations, with 44% of all respondents saying they would do so.

The survey also shows that urban logistics is becoming increasingly important, with 64% of online retailers suggesting expanding in urban locations is now a high priority. This trend is reflected in the fact that delivery time to customers remains one of the most important factors influencing location decisions, with urban locations increasing efficiencies and shortening supply chains.

Moreover, according to the survey, 50% of online retailers in Europe believe they will need additional logistics space in the UK as a consequence of Brexit, with a further 40% suggesting they will also need additional space in the EU.

Tasos Vezyridis, Senior Director, Research, CBRE:

“Recent global events have shone the spotlight on logistics and alerted people to the importance of global supply chains. These trends have accelerated demand from logistics occupiers and placed greater importance on issues such as labour cost and availability, urban logistics, lease costs and flexibility. These trends in turn impact investor decision making and we anticipate high investor demand, especially in emerging logistics hubs, over the coming year, as a result of these strong occupier fundamentals.”