The first three of the main trees of VERDE, the greenest office complex in Riga, have been planted on the building’s spacious fifth-floor terrace during the small-scale presentation of the first stage of the VERDE project, located at Skanste, the intersection of Skanste and Hanza Streets in Riga. The topping-out of the first VERDE building will be celebrated already this year, while its construction is scheduled for completion in June 2022. The 30,000 m2 large VERDE offices will provide a modern, energy-efficient, and green environment for productive work to more than 3,000 people. It is planned to invest over EUR 65 million the development of VERDE. 

At the event project’s developers were represented by Andrius Barštys, the developer of VERDE and CEO of “Capitalica Asset Management”, and VERDE Commercial Director Iveta Lāce, while the project’s designers were represented by VERDE chief architect Andris Kronbergs (“ARCHIS Arhitekti”) and VERDE landscape architect Linda Zaļā (“ZALA Landscape Architects”). The event was also attended by Deputy Chairman of the Riga City Council Edvards Smiltēns and representative of one of the VERDE project funders, Marco Francini, Head of the EIB (European Investment Bank) Group Office for the Baltic States.

Symbolically, the VERDE presentation event was marked by planting the most sustainable “foundation stones”, namely, the main trees. They were planted in pots, which a crane lifted to the building’s fifth-floor terrace where a 600 m2 abundantly verdant area for leisure and productive work will be created once the construction works are finished.

“According to our goal and the construction schedule, we will celebrate the building’s topping-out already this year and complete the construction of the first VERDE building next spring, fully compliant with BREEAM “Excellent” and nZEB standards. It is planned that in June 2022 we will be able to welcome tenants and provide all the promised features – an extensive green area in a nearly “car-free” backyard and terrace, equipped with outdoor workspaces, good connectivity with any location in Riga, a unique breakfast and dinner concept restaurant and other amenities,” says “Capitalica Asset Management” CEO Andrius Barštys, the investor and developer of VERDE.

Edvards Smiltēns, Deputy Chairman of the Riga City Council, added: “VERDE, calling itself the greenest office in Riga, has set a high bar for both itself and others. I hope that this project will be an exciting example and such green, modern buildings will soon be visible in many neighborhoods, making Riga even more beautiful.”

“One of EIB's key objectives is to promote sustainable and inclusive growth while combating climate change. Since buildings are among the main emitters of CO2, it is crucial to engage the real estate sector in that process. Modernization and innovation will be essential in achieving the European goal of climate neutrality by 2050. The construction sector plays an important role in the Latvian economy, and for this reason we are delighted to support sustainable Latvian projects like VERDE in order to encourage further investments in green construction to enhance the transition to carbon neutrality,” commented in person representative of one of the VERDE project funders, Marco Francini, Head of the EIB (European Investment Bank) Group Office for the Baltic States.

Riga Mayor Mārtiņš Staķis and Riga Investment and Tourism Agency Director Rolands Bogdanovs could not take part in the event, but remotely got acquainted with the development plans of VERDE.

“The new VERDE complex is a major investment for the city. In addition, it creates new opportunities for Riga to attract high added value international companies, as the complex is adapted to high standards. It is also valuable that in this way the recognition of Riga in connection with the development of modern and sustainable architecture increases, in contrast to, for example, historical Art Nouveau and wooden architecture. Skanste is a great example of how each object has contributed to future development. I hope that the new VERDE complex will also provide such new growth impetus to the neighbourhood,” Mārtiņš Staķis, Mayor of Riga, commented while inspecting the VERDE project.

"VERDE perfectly shows what modern real estate development should be like - smart, functional, user-friendly, sustainable and one that helps the city move towards climate neutrality goals. In order to attract new international companies, Riga needs modern offices compliant with global standards, a tidy environment and leisure opportunities in their surroundings. Skanste is a great place where each real estate development object has given a signal for the next development, as a result of which Skanste has become a dynamic business district of Riga. Even now, following the example of VERDE, we see that the construction of two more new office buildings has started in Skanste. We are very grateful to Capitalica Asset Management and other foreign investors who help us develop the city and become part of it,” commented Rolands Bogdanovs, Director of the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency.