Promises great moments for a long-forgotten district: it’s important not to make a fundamental mistake

Discovered a new area

The older generation still remembers what Šnipiškės looked like a few decades ago. According to Mindaugas Statulevičius, head of the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association, this district has not been discovered for a long time. It was dominated by low-rise wooden construction, and Šnipiškės was famous for being a district of low-income and less busy residents.

“Šnipiškės has always been an interesting object. By the year 2000 they were forgotten, low-rise wooden constructions and abandoned territories prevailed. We all probably remember that first pizzeria in Vilnius. It was not the center of attraction in Šnipiškės, it was an area low-income and less busy people. The line of the current Constitution Avenue delimits the central part of the city, which ends in the central department stores, “says M. Statulevičius.

The interlocutor continues that with the accession of Lithuania to the European Union, the priority direction of the city of Vilnius was changed and the development of this part of the city became the most important task. Therefore, it was decided to move the Vilnius city municipality (the current location of the municipality) to Šnipiškės.

“The changes in Šnipiškės may be related to that. There was a huge investment in infrastructure, we calculated that by building the Constitution prospectus, renewing all the networks there, making underground crossings, etc., one litas generated four litas, which were brought there on business. At that time, we also saw the construction of a European business and commercial center and the construction of residential buildings. That old part has been preserved for the time being, Linkmenų, Žalgirio, Kalvarijų streets, which had not yet been touched, because all the companies thought that they should be created here where the municipality was being established, that part was more attractive and interesting ”, emphasizes the head of the LNTPA.

Still expanding

According to M. Statulevičius, the new part of Šnipiškės was managed consistently. Here it was possible to buy parcels and the state, municipalities, as well as certain objects at auction. However, after the economic crisis, the development of Šnipiškės stopped.

“The real estate market boom coincided with the growth of Šnipiškės. The change took place naturally in those 4-5 years, of course the crisis slowed down, after which in 2011-2012 Šnipiškės again became one of the most popular development spots, because it had good communication, infrastructure: close from school, kindergartens, buses, trolleybuses, convenient transportation on foot. The number of business centers has increased, which has generated a demand for residential homes, “says the head of M. LNTPA.

Today Šnipiškės is still expanding. According to M. Statulevičius, it is currently planned to organize Kernavės Street and establish green recreation areas in this district. But when it comes to an emerging district, the question arises of what to do so that it doesn’t get too dense. According to N. Statulevičius, the municipality has an important role to play here.

“The municipality will have a very important role to play here. Because curbing the unlimited desires of the same business in some cases requires effort and apparently, in the first place, it will be done through public investment and the requirements for the business it has the intention to invest there, it is first of all clear that the green areas that should arise should be in several parks, there is a Japanese garden, a dragon meadow, observation towers, etc., attractions that increase value, “says the interlocutor .

He continues that in revitalizing neighborhoods like Šnipiškės, it is important to coordinate the potential intensity of the building for residential neighborhoods. It is true that other requirements apply to commercial buildings.

“The construction of commercial buildings can be more intensive, because there are also higher projects, for example, there is a project that is even higher than the PC ‘Europa’ building,” says M. Statulevičius.

The price of land is high.

However, the spirits of the ancient district still remain in Šnipiškės. It is a block of low-rise wooden houses. This area has been the subject of much debate both in institutions and in society, but it is difficult to change this place. According to M. Statulevičius, the houses there are privately owned, therefore the municipality cannot interfere. Furthermore, the people who live there cannot be taxed because not all of them have fully formed the boundaries of the parcels, and even with the introduction of a certain tax, there is the possibility that part of the population is exempt from it due to their situation Social.

Tomas Sovijus Kvainickas, Head of Investment and Analysis at Inreal Group, also emphasizes that Šnipiškės is a contrasting district. There are newly built multi-apartment residential buildings (admittedly there are several older ones) where younger residents, families and former residents of medium or poor sized old residential houses are being built with older people living in Šnipiškės.

“These old houses do not adorn Šnipiškės, but are privately owned, so the only way to solve this problem is successful negotiations between owners and real estate developers,” emphasizes the interlocutor.

The real estate analyst continues that the price of land in Šnipiškės is high enough, therefore, the construction of individual houses here would be really expensive, so there is no significant change of population in the individual houses.
“Individual homeowners have been negotiating with developers who want to build new high-rise buildings in place for more than a decade. Development is proceeding fairly smoothly, north of Konstitucijos Avenue and south of Žalgirio Street “Says T. Kvainickas.

Floors predominate

The apartments are mainly sold in Šnipiškės. According to T. Kvainickas, there are individual offers of country houses or houses, but they are more exceptions.

“The developer’s decision of which object to develop is determined by the possibilities of construction, the price of the land, the possibilities of the buyers and the predominant context of the buildings. It is rarely worth building country houses and houses in Šnipiškės, because the maximum intensity of the building is not used, so each buyer must pay a significantly higher total price for the purchased part of the land. Also, the predominant nature of the buildings does not correspond to the typical neighborhood of the individual and block apartments. There is no point in waiting for privacy when your patio is visible to all residents of the high-rise buildings that surround it. The supply of newly built houses and cottages is very limited, such objects are built only in the presence of poor permitted construction indicators and are applied to very specific clients, who do not form a typical majority, “analyzes the specialist.

He goes on to say that the old home market in this neighborhood also exists, but the closer the individual home is to existing business centers, the more the buyer is interested in not the home, but the land below it, a construction site for a new business center or apartment building.

“In terms of prices, Šnipiškės is inferior to only a few neighborhoods: the old town, the part of Naujamiestis that borders the old part of the city, the southern part of Žvėrynas, Užupis, the projects that are developed in the bank of Neris in Žirmūnai. As a general rule, lower-rise buildings dominate in all these places, so due to the prestige of the area, residents pay more for the land there, and if we reduced the height of Šnipiškė apartment buildings, the level of prices would be similar, “emphasizes the interlocutor.
According to T. Kvainickas, however, Šnipiškės is not a monolith. Here are cheaper and more expensive homes: “Prices for partially finished apartments start from around 1,800 Eur / m2 and typically go up to 2,800 Eur / m2. However, there are projects with significantly 3,000 Eur / m2. The size of the apartments varies, maybe a little more than houses, but there is such a trend in practically every new apartment building in Vilnius. ”

Isn’t excessive density a threat?

Delfi Būstas asked a real estate analyst what to do to prevent Šnipiškės from becoming too dense. According to the specialist, there is no single recipe.

Šnipiškės is part of the new Vilnius city center, which includes not only Šnipiškės, but also a small part of Žvėrynas and Šeškinė and is expanding towards Žirmūnai. Such narrowing and expansion of space emphasizes different things and, for example, in one of the densest areas – Perkūnkiemis – compression, in Šnipiškės – commercial objects and location, and the location determines not only the prestige of the place, but also banal things like the problem of parking spaces. .

He continues that Šnipiškės is separated from the old town and Naujamiestis by a river. For the target audience, this is a good choice of residence, as the need for a car disappears or at least decreases, the family can escape with a car and live comfortably with a parking space.
“On the other hand, not all of the residents working in Šnipiškės live there, so it is quite difficult to find a parking spot in the neighborhood during the day, and traffic jams are” time consuming “. This situation is typical of all metropolitan centers, and reveals a broader problem: the concentration of commercial objects and the spread of residential objects. If parking in Šnipiškės is problematic during work, then in Perkūnkiemi the problem is more serious after work, when residents return home and the number of parking spaces is insufficient, ”says the specialist.

According to the interlocutor, if the developers decide to abuse the highest intensity of the building, they will be “punished” by the market itself, residents will choose Žirmūnai, Naujamiestis or other nearby districts, or perhaps even peripheral ones. Furthermore, according to T. Kvainickas, the decision to reduce the density and intensity of construction can act only as a partial measure. First of all, there are already several business centers in Šnipiškės, and the need to park cars will not disappear anywhere. Restricting the development of residential houses is also not an exit, since the parking problem is more relevant for more commercial objects. The solution must be systematic, promoting a certain isolation from the “islands” of the city. The existence of commercial and sleeping areas maintains the need for cars and creates two different traffic jam zones during work and unemployment.

“I think instead of building intensity restrictions in Šnipiškės, incentive measures would work better, which would increase developer interest in other parts of the city. This could encourage more uniform development in other parts of the city, which it would remove some of the burden from the city center, ”emphasizes T. Kvainickas.