The Vilnius district, which has great potential, is still in the shadows: the prices of the apartments here are one of the lowest

Construction Peak: The Soviet Era

In historical sources Šeškinė (Šeškiniai) is mentioned in 1390 and 1545. From the 12th century. until the 19th century. in the middle belonged to the Radvils. It was a town where wooden houses were built. 1905 84 people lived on the two outskirts of Šeškinė in the Riešė district. 1931 There were 169 inhabitants in the village of Šeškinia Gura. The Šeškinė Hills have long been used as a natural barrier for the defense of Vilnius. They remember many battles, not only of the crusaders, but also of the Russian, Swedish, French armies, it was in 1794. witnesses to the uprising and many other historical events.

1955 Šeškinė was connected to the city of Vilnius and in 1977. start the construction of high-rise houses. Tomas Sovijus Kvainickas, head of investment and analysis at Inreal, says that the main development of the district took place between 1979 and 1982. Several hundred more apartments were built before 1990. According to the interlocutor, the second stage of development took place during the period of independence around 1999-2006. The cranes returned to Šeškinė again in 2019, and several projects are currently under development.
TS Kvanickas emphasizes that Šeškinė is a relatively small Vilnius nursing home. Its area is about 4.5 square kilometers, but the nursing home is fairly densely built.

“There are more than 200 apartment buildings, more than 13,000 apartments. There is not much space for new development, because the undeveloped areas are dominated by parks (Šeškinė forest, Karoliniškės oasis, Viršuliškės and Šeškinė), and the northern part probably it should be occupied by Šiaurinė street very soon ”, explains the real estate analyst.
According to TS Kvainickas, there is no complete, accurate and publicly available population register, so it is only possible to make assumptions about the age and social stratum of the population chosen by Šeškinė.
“Basically, the population structure is determined by the period of development of the territory. Relatively young families move into new apartment buildings, which often and dozens of years spend here. Šeškinė developed more actively between 1980 and 1990, so the first inhabitants settled here 30-40 years ago. Thus, currently the first inhabitants of Šeškinė are elderly people. Around 600 apartments were built in the period 2000-2006, so they are probably in their quarantine, and the younger generation is developing in the projects that are currently being developed ”, explains the interviewee.

Promising but losing the competitive battle

A young person, if their economic situation allows it, really prefers to opt for new construction homes. However, according to the president of the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association, Mindaugas Statulevičius, currently the number of new residential projects in Šeškinė can be counted on one finger, although the district meets almost all the requirements of the settlers. Rich in green areas, Šeškinė is quickly and conveniently accessible not only from the center, but also from the surrounding areas, and has a well-developed public transport infrastructure. On the other hand, these positive characteristics of the district have been noticed and are still noticed by commercial real estate developers.

“Šeškinė should be an attractive option, but perhaps due to the lack of parcels, territories where projects could be implemented or simply compete with other neighborhoods that were more popular at the time, there has not been a more active development there for the last 10- 15 years. Regarding commercial property, we have: we have both supermarkets and sports facilities near Ozo street, tennis courts, wellness centers, ice rinks, etc. All these objects have further stimulated the sports infrastructure and commercial and its development ”, says the real estate expert.

The interviewee goes on to say that over the past 4 years a greater number of residential projects and interest from developers have been noticed in the Šeškinė district. The first promising swallow is “Žvėrynas panoramas”, and next to them, according to M. Statulevičius, there are still quite promising territories for real estate development.

“For some reason, there is no insertion in existing residential houses, residential building territories, which seems to happen in Karoliniškės, Justiniškės, even in Pašilaičiai and elsewhere. It’s hard to say why, maybe it’s harder to form parcels, maybe other districts will win the competitive battle, but it’s an interesting district. According to the prices of these projects under development this year, we see that the price is quite average, economic-average, apparently the circle of buyers is from the residents of Šeškinė themselves, who know the area well and want to improve living conditions ”, says the real estate expert and adds The secondary market is much more active in Šeškinė, but the apartment buildings that participate in it are old and not in the best condition.

“But the district is really good, there are many schools and kindergartens. It also creates competition for other neighborhoods,” emphasizes the interlocutor.

Lack of space for new construction of apartment buildings.

TS Kvainickas also speaks cautiously about the popularity of Šeškinė. According to him, Šeškinė, probably, we could not name one of the most popular districts of Vilnius. According to him, the lack of attractiveness is mainly due to two characteristics of the district: the development of the nursing home is almost finished and the lack of free territories for the new development and the structure of the buildings.

“Šeškinė is dominated by old buildings. There are parks on the outskirts of the old age, but in the center of the district the intensity of construction is high and there are few green areas. There is not much commercial activity that gives vitality to the territories (except for the Acropolis) ”, says the real estate analyst.

The interviewee continues that Vilnius is a relatively large city in terms of area, so new projects are constantly being developed here, which have a more interesting appearance and better technical properties, so the attractiveness of Soviet reinforced concrete is not high at all. , provided that financial possibilities allow looking for newer homes.

“In this regard, Šeškinė, like Lazdynai or Karoliniškės, is losing out to the outlying sleeping districts, where much more active housing development is taking place, younger residents are settling in, and as the population grows, the appeal of older apartment buildings increases, “says TS Kvainickas.

How much does an apartment cost in Šeškinė?

According to TS Kvainickas, apartment prices in Šeškinė are similar (slightly higher) than in Pašilaičiai. Both districts are located on Ukmergės street, built in a relatively similar period, they are dominated by the same apartment buildings of 5-9-storey reinforced concrete structures, so the main difference is the distance to the city center and the location of apartment buildings in neighborhoods. It is true that in the primary market the price differences are more pronounced.

The secondary market apartments in Šeškinė can be divided into two main groups.
The first group are apartment buildings of reinforced concrete structures built around 1979-1985. The price of the apartments in them is:

• 1 room – 1300-1600 EUR / m2 (45-55 thousand EUR), rent 200-300 EUR / month;
• 2 rooms – 1100-1450 EUR / m2 (55-75 thousand EUR), rent 300-350 EUR / month;
• 3 rooms – 950-1450 Eur / m2 (65-85 thousand Eur), rent 300-500 Eur / month.

The second group is apartment buildings built in 2000-2006. The price of the apartments in them is:

• 1 room – these apartments are sold very little, more often – they are rented for 200 – 350 EUR / month;
• 2 rooms – 1400-1850 EUR / m2 (90-120 thousand EUR), rent 350-450 EUR / month;
• 3 rooms –1350 – 1800 Eur / m2 (105 – 145 thousand Eur), rent 400 – 650 Eur / month.

There are currently several housing projects on the primary market in Šeškinė. Apartments with partial finishing cost on average (with some exceptions) 1800-2000 Eur / m2