EfTEN Real Estate Fund 5 news
EfTEN bought an over 16,000 square meter retail park in Vilnius
EfTEN Real Estate Fund 5, managed by EfTEN Capital, bought the newly completed UNA retail park at Dangeručio 1 in Vilnius. This marks the largest transaction with a retail asset in the Baltics this year. UNA’s anchor tenants are Kesko Senukai and Rimi. The transaction was financed by the SEB bank.
“Over the last few years EfTEN has essentially made no larger transactions on the real estate market. As interest rates have increased, there have been no projects for sale at terms that are in line with EfTEN’s conservative investment principles. Now that EURIBOR is falling again, we are also becoming more active on the property market. In the post-COVID era an increasing number of people are preferring to work part-time from home. It also directs retail out of the city center and closer to residential districts. In the portfolio of various EfTEN funds, shopping centers in residential districts have shown the best results in recent years. With a brave decision to start developing UNA in the times of unprecedented geopolitical uncertainty, the development company VPH has done an excellent job in matching the needs of both nearby residents and the heavy passing traffic,” commented Laurynas Žilys, head of EfTEN Capital Lietuva, on the background of the transaction.
UNA retail park is located in a rapidly growing suburb of Vilnius, directly on a key access road connecting the capital with the North-Eastern part of the country. It is a modern one-storey center of over 16,000 square meters, where most tenants have separate entrances that open onto a large courtyard area in front of the center, normally used for parking. This not only prevents possible business restrictions tenants faced in COVID times, but also allows the courtyard to be used for community and marketing events, such as seasonal fairs.
“SEB Bank is contributing to sustainable investment in the retail sector by launching a successful cooperation and providing green financing for the UNA shopping centre. Over the last few years, we have seen a growing market demand for energy-efficient real estate buildings, reflecting the efforts of modern business to create long-term value, and we are ready to contribute to the sustainability transformation in real estate. We are seeing strong growth trends in the green loan portfolio in Lithuania – at the end of July 2024, the bank’s green loan portfolio was 83% higher than in the same period of the previous year, and we are delighted that this property in Vilnius also complements the portfolio of green buildings financed by our bank,” said Tadas Jonušauskas, Head of Corporate Banking Division at SEB Bank.
“Development and divestment of UNA Retail Park continues VPH’s strategy to develop high quality retail assets across the Baltic states. Being the pioneer of retail park development in the Baltic States, we highly believe that this class of assets is very safe and stable even if turbulence comes to the real estate market. It is our experience that it is highly appreciated by the shoppers because of its convenience and shopping comfort,” said Arturas Šukys, Partner of VPH.
The transaction was brokered by the the Newsec and FORT Legal represented EfTEN Capital. The seller VPH was legally advised by Ellex.