For the implementation of the 1st stage of the Tobacco Factory Quarter in Riga, Miera iela 58 for the needs of the Latvian Academy of Culture and the Creative Industries Business Incubator, a record number of applications has been received in the construction tender of SJSC “State Real Estate” (SRE) - 17 contractors have applied. SRE is beginning the evaluation process, informs Renārs Griškevičs, Chairman of the Board of SRE.
Tenders for the development of the 1st stage of the Tobacco Factory Quarter have been submitted by the following contractors: GP “AKN”, GP “CES Group”, LLC “Labā māja Latvija”, LLC “Lagron”, LLC “MARELS BŪVE”, LLC “Merks”, LLC “NEWCOM Construction”, PA “ARMS”, AB “Panevėžio statybos trestas”, association of persons “P un P”, association of suppliers “3A”, LLC Pillar Contractor, LLC “RERE MEISTARI”, GP “SIA “Eltex” and LLC “LAGUTA””, GB “TORENSBERG”, JSC “UPB” and LLC “VELVE”. Contract prices offered - from 3.24 million euros to 4.99 million euros (excluding VAT). It will only be possible to talk about the winner of the procurement and the amount of the contract after evaluating the tenders. “The high interest of contractors in this and other procurements of SRE indicates an open and understandable procurement process and competition between the contractors. The large number of applications received from contractors will give an opportunity to evaluate the most economically advantageous offer appropriate to the required qualification,” R. Griškevičs points out.
According to the vision of the architectural office NRJA, developed and approved at the end of 2018 in the design competition, the construction plan envisages the development of the territory of the Tobacco Factory Quarter on Miera iela in several stages. The development of the quarter will start with the entrance junction - the Creative Industries Incubator and the National Film School of the Latvian Academy of Culture, as well as the construction of a separate filming pavilion, renovating and improving the public space in an area of 1,019 m2 and public buildings in an area of 1,667 m2. In the first stage of the quarter's development, the buildings where the New Riga Theatre is currently located will not be affected.
In the 2nd stage of development of the Tobacco Factory Quarter on Miera iela, it is planned to develop premises for the Latvian Academy of Culture in an area of more than 8,000 m2, creating premises for the provision of the study process of the study programmes, including the study programmes “Contemporary Dance” and “Performing Arts” and the Cinema/Photo Museum (Riga Cinema Museum, Latvian Museum of Photography). In the future, the quarter will provide students and academic staff of the Latvian Academy of Culture with a modern learning environment and cooperation with companies in the creative industries, as well as it will become a magnet not only for creative minds, but also for residents and tourists in the Brasa area. The design works carried out last year in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the Latvian Academy of Culture for the development of the Tobacco Factory Quarter will fully ensure a high degree of readiness for the next project stages, which can be considered as an advantage for receiving financing within the framework of the EU structural funds in the next programming period, for the next stage of development of the quarter.
Simultaneously with the development of the Tobacco Factory Quarter, SRE is implementing the creation of two more creative quarters. Just around the corner, rebuilding the former Riga Light Industry Technical School building in Riga, A. Briāna Street 13, an advanced prototyping workshop “Riga Makerspace” will be created in Riga, adapting premises for the needs of Riga Art and Design Secondary School and the Latvian Academy of Art, while in the Šķirotava area at Meirānu iela 2 a performing arts decoration workshop complex for the SJSC “Latvian National Opera and Ballet” will be created. Construction works in three quarters in the areas of Riga are planned to be put into operation in the autumn of 2023. The projects are financed from the means attracted by the Ministry of Culture from the European Union fund Operational Programme “Growth and Employment” 5.6.1. specific support objective “To promote the revitalisation of the city of Riga, ensuring the efficient socio-economic use of the territory”.
Last year, 17 nationally significant development projects with a total budget of 29.5 million euros were completed under the leadership of SRE. In the conditions of the pandemic, respecting the precautionary and safety requirements, work on 43 different construction sites of national importance with a total project budget of 156 million euros continues under the leadership of SRE. SRE provides professional real estate management and administration for approximately 400 real estate properties with 1100 buildings of 1.02 million square metres and more than 3600 land properties with an area of 9.6 million square metres. SRE was founded in 1996 and its sole (100%) shareholder is the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Latvia.
