Today a lease agreement was signed between Vastint, the developer of business centre UNIQ, and its future tenant, DGITL, the IT service centre of Danske Bank in Lithuania. This is one of the biggest transactions in the Lithuanian office market and is unique because the entire building will be leased by one single tenant.
DGITL plans to set up in UNIQ, which is located at the junction of Lukiškių and Gynėjų streets and will be completed this October. “Ever since our centre began operating, we’ve offered our employees an exclusive approach to work and responsibilities that cannot be found elsewhere. We’re going to create a unique working environment in our new office. We want our fast growing team to have the best working conditions in Lithuania, and we will meet this goal in our new office,” Giedrius Dzekunskas, head of DGITL, said.
According to Kęstutis Vedeckis, manager of Vastint Lithuania, DGITL appreciated the comfort created in the workplace and the greenness and high quality standards of the building. The most efficient technological solutions are being installed in the business centre, ensuring the optimal physical parameters of the workplace automatically according to the changing surrounding conditions. “Danske bank appreciated our innovative ideas brought to Lithuania and our effort to put in setting new real estate development standards,” Mr Vedeckis said. “We hope that together with the tenant we will successfully develop the ‘concept of an office with elements of home’ in Lithuania.”
The idea of an office with elements of home is being implemented in the business centre by designating some of the space for the personal needs of employees. In the business centre, there will be special rest zones, a gym, rest and play rooms, and charging points for electric vehicles. “Our aim was to consider the needs of the various people who will work here and promote an environmentally friendly and healthy lifestyle,” Mr Dzekunskas said.
Martynas Babilas, head of the Baltic Service Group for the office division of Newsec, the real estate company that mediated the transaction, said that big tenants currently looking for new offices have become increasingly ambitious and demanding of builders and lessors as they realise that a comfortable workplace also contributes to their attractiveness as employers. “This is a perfect example of how a lessor has developed a product meeting the expectations of the biggest tenants and found a solid client as early as the construction phase of the project,” Mr Babilas said.
This transaction is one of the biggest in the office market in Vilnius. Although the office market has been supplemented by 55,000 m2 of new offices for the 2014–2015 period, almost all the new offices have already been snapped up. According to information provided by Newsec, with the transaction between Danske Bank and Vastint, scarcely 5% of free office space will be left. New supply will enter the market only in Q2 2016 with the opening of the business centre Quadrum.