A NEW PROJECT IN RĪGA’S HISTORICAL CENTRE: THE CHARLOTTE RESIDENCE

Rīga, September 30, 2013.  Demand for luxury-class flats in the Rīga city centre which can be brought or rented has exceeded supply for the past five to ten years, and so each new or renovated project immediately attracts the interest of participants in the real estate market.  The Charlotte Residence apartment building at Vidus Street 5 in the quiet centre of Rīga celebrated its ridgepole event in mid-September, and it has every hope of becoming the most demanded project of all.  That is not just because of its location.

The new Charlotte Residence building typifies 21^st century architecture and is an outstanding example of how modern trends can be organically merged with the historical urban environment.  “The block on which the Charlotte Residence is located is unique in that it has many buildings with richly decorated Art Nouveau facades,” says the new building’s chief architect, Juris Bērziņš.  “It was not easy to merge into this beautiful environment without overshadowing or copying the masterpieces of the previous century.  For that reason, we chose laconic lines and effective materials for the building.  The ascetic approach to the building’s architectural shape emphasises the historical and rich décor of surrounding buildings.”

Visvaldis Sarma, who is an architect for the Sarma & Norde architectural firm and a board member of the Latvian Association of Architects, says that a city is a living organism which exists and develops over the course of several centuries.  “For that reason we must not just respect the elements which previous generations have created in the urban scene, but also respect and be proud of what we are doing in terms of offering benefits to them,” he says.  “We have every right to leave signs of our era in the Rīga city centre while, of course, integrating them into the urban landscape.”

“In recent years there have been numerous limitations which encourage us to select free land outside of the city centre for our projects,” Sarma continues.  “The result is that Rīga has developed horizontally, with so-called suburbanisation in which homes are built in the periphery of the city, thus guaranteeing that there are certain days in which the city centre is empty.  In financial terms, too, preference has been given in recent years to the construction of buildings on meadows, as opposed to renovating or constructing a new building in the city centre. In the long term, that makes usage costs very much more expensive, because a new infrastructure has to be installed, public transportation must be provided, and so on.  As capital is accumulated, there has been greater demand for high-quality flats and offices in the city centre.  That sends a signal to suggest that we can expect a return to development in the city centre so that we can improve it.”

There are few new projects in the historical centre in Rīga that are offered by the real estate market at this time. Demand for such flats exceeds supply many times over.  The builders of the Charlotte Residence, moreover, have taken advantage of the unique nature of the location, also providing owners or renters of flats with a series of conveniences.  This is an example of a “smart building” which uses the latest technological solutions for the automatic parking of cars in the underground car park – the so-called “box parking” principle.

The “smart building” concept also makes it possible to control the property from a distance via the Internet, reading energy control data and establishing a regime for the use of energy resources.

“The target audience for the Charlotte Residence is made up of local and foreign buyers or renters who wish to live close to the business centre and also an enjoy an environment of lovely parks, an easily accessible yacht club, and other infrastructural elements,” says Baltic Sotheby’s International Realty board member Ilze Mazurenko.

The six-floor Charlotte Residence building has fifteen flats, and they will be put on the market at the beginning of 2014.