Hello everybody,

a small discussion was held in Miestai ir architektura forum (http://tinkle.miestai.net) after couple of my articles in the SSC newsletter. The topic was, which city, Vilnius or Riga, has more planned and undergoing projects. I tried to count it myself, but don't want to be biased and post projects of Riga, so it could be done by some other latvian forumer, maybe Gatis could help :D. In other words I counted and found out that Vilnius is currently leading and its projects are more real. So, go on ;)

- Helios tower (26 floors, U/C)
- Unknown tower in NCC (~27 floors, marked as very real in Vilnius development plan)
- Register center (up to 40 floors, possibility is unknown)
- Vyrokas apartments (24 floors, U/C, whole building will be finished next year)
- SBA tower (12 floors, U/C, a little on hold to get materials]
- Vilnius Gates (quite a big complex, including 18 and 12 (14?) storey towers)
- Victoria tower (almost topped out, 16 floors)
- BCC2 (construction will start soon, 12 floors)
- 2 15-floor towers and a retail and entertainment center (very real)
- 2 20-floor residential towers + a whole residential district in Karoliniskes
- Theme park + Aquapark
- 4 16-floor buildings in 2 locations, U/C
- Delfinas residential, almost finished
- Lazdynai business center, 10 floors
- The extension of the first Hanner, to 12 floors
- 8000 m2 business center near the Green Hanner
- Lowrise office building in Zverynas (soon to be started)
- Siemens Arena (almost finished)
- The North Town development (undergoing)
- Eika retail center (very real)

and I think that's it. Please add if I forgot something ;)

I think you should limit the comparison to high-rises only, given the fact that there are so many smaller projects going on that it's impossible to keep a track of them all.


. . . vs. comparisons again! aaargh! :runaway:

Gatis? Come on, show them some stuff.... :D

I'm with Oberleutenant on this one.

Are all of those posted above on 12 floors or more? If not, where to put the limit? I mean, comparing the number of all construction-activity is pretty impossible unless you have some statistics of total floorspace acctually beeing built or something.

People in Lithuania (i believe in other 2 Baltic states too ;)) like to compare things with their neighbours and nothing wrong with that.

It's hard to forecast highrise construction activity since this mostly depends on the wishes of developers and attitude of the municipality (we're not Hong Kong where every single m2 has a price of gold). As for overall construction activity Vilnius looks more active now but in the future it might change. Everything will depend on market demand. Currently office demand has lowered in Vilnius while residential space demand is still high above the supply despite construction boom which already lasts for 3 years. We should consider these: office space demand, residential space demand and retail space demand. By judging those measures we might forecast the construction activity for the next 2 years or so.

People in Lithuania (i believe in other 2 Baltic states too ;)) like to compare things with their neighbours and nothing wrong with that.

The problem is that all too often in the internet it just degenerates into nationalistic dick-waving and pompous chest pounding...

You can just look at my Riga highrises thread or emporis.com data about Riga ;) - there is more or less all I know about highrise projects in Riga. Other projects, f.e. supermarkets, exhibition centres, opera's etc. are hard to account. In my Riga thread I do not speak about large scale multiapartment building projects in Kleisti (on-going), Rumbula, Dreilini (on-going) etc. - each of them is creating something like a small city, but these projects are not that interesting. Btw. in these days there started large construction on Lucavsala but I am in very hot deficite of time to follow all of this (working some 16 hours per day).
Realistic highrises (20 floors and more) are not that many:
1-5.- 5 Solaris apartment buildings 25 floors. Two of them currently have third floor u/c
6. - Skaistie skati - 24 fl. Had to start in spring, but delayed. They are fighting with all the permitting, redesigning etc., but it should be built.
7. Smilsu pulkstenis - 35 fl. To my mind 40% probability that it would be built. They have made loud announcements but nithing real seen, nothing heard about permitting.
8. Lucavsala multifuntional - 26 fl. Detailed desing ongoing, do not see any reasons why it should not be built around 2007.
9. and 10. Apartment houses in Kliversala, 24 floors. Serious preparations with all the permitting on-going, first should be ready in 2007.
11. and 12. Skanstes Street office towers - 40 and 24 floors. Visionary. Let's wait until the beginning of October - could be some news.
13. Kliversala III - 20 floors. Will come later - around 2010.
14. and 15. Acropolis I and II - 30 floors. Just announcement, nothing more heard.

Saules akmens not included here anymore - this one is nearly completed.
There are rumours about some more highrises with permitting ongoing but their developers have decided to do it in silence. In the beginning of October there would be announced new plans regarding the new office of Riga City Council - one or two highrises expected. Let's see.

All the other large projects are too many to account - should be above 30 of them. Did I mention the new police quartal with 50 mio EUR investment - it is contracted currently? Or Police Olympic center which soon would be completed (if we continue with police thingies)? There are many projects which I forgot to mention in my Riga thread. Let's not forget new city with 540 ha area actively built next to Riga - Saliena.


Yeah, it really turned into nationalistic dick-waving :) but I could not help... I do not like these comparisons but had to do something about it.

I think that comparison with Vilnius is somewhat impossible... The only thing what can show something would be amount of planned investments in money - but I am not going to dig for it :)

Well well, I see Riga is winning!!! Something should be done about this!!!!!!!!!

Vilnius says: :goodnight :crazy:

SBA tower (12 floors, U/C, a little on hold to get materials]

:hilarious: are you joking? :jippo:

Well well, I see Riga is winning!!! Something should be done about this!!!!!!!!!

Vilnius says: :goodnight :crazy:
I can express some doubts here. Many of those projects are just proposed and many are planned from 2007 to 2010 while Vilnius is now building and projects that I posted are planned for next year or not really for that far as for Riga ;) Moreover, most of those planned high-rises are modern residentials that Riga used to be short of the most of all the baltic states. Seems like a demand for these buildings wasn't noticed till now :|

I think PornStar is not exactly serious, as usually ;)

:hilarious: are you joking? :jippo:
Well, this building will use architectural structures that wasn't used in Lithuania before, like a DNA spiral core ;) Note that the basement is fully prepared now, as seen in the pic

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/v4idas/PICT4839.jpg

I think PornStar is not exactly serious, as usually ;)
Oh, isn't he? I must have lost my sense of humour then ;)

I can express some doubts here
:rofl: :llama:

on the other hand, it's sorta nice to have some serious forumers in

keep on, Mantaz! :D

:rofl: :llama:

on the other hand, it's sorta nice to have some serious forumers in

keep on, Mantaz! :D
Hehe, wtf happened to you, seems like you just smoke some weed and can't stop laughing :|

Ober, you're overreacting a little. Never heard any nationalistic garbage here on S&B...maybe you should come to EE section a little?;)

All in all ... great projects in both Riga and Vilnius!
Balkans envies you...nothing going on here.... for now.

Ober, you're overreacting a little. Never heard any nationalistic garbage here on S&B...maybe you should come to EE section a little?;)

Actually, my comment was more or less a warning that might happen here in the worst case scenario. :) I know little bit of what happens in the other forums, and I certainly wouldn't want S&B to be like it.

Actually, my comment was more or less a warning that might happen here in the worst case scenario. :) I know little bit of what happens in the other forums, and I certainly wouldn't want S&B to be like it.
@Oberleutnant Dick-waver, LOL :lol:

@Oberleutnant Dick-waver, LOL :lol:

English is a funny language, isn't it?

(sorry for OT)

English is a funny language, isn't it?

(sorry for OT)
I still can't stop laughing at an idom "It sucks to be you" (used in case when a person complains too much :D)

u might have scrapers scattered around, but tallinn beats u when it comes to cluster 2008! :D

^^
those sweet dreams... :|

May be I had to ignore this... but somehow I enter this unnecessary fighting...
In Riga centrum currently there are nearly no large construction activities except "Saules akmens" (was aloud with big scandals) and "Centra nams" (nobody understands how they managed to go through approval procedures). Everything else was stopped by construction moratorium until Historical Centre Development plan was elaborated this summer (final approval due for November this year). This refers also to highrises. Yes, today you will see more construction cranes in Vilnius and very few in Riga. If you are not leaving center.
I was listing highrise projects due to start over the next three years - some will start in one month time. That's how I understood it should be done when looking at Vilnius projects, which lists also planned projects.
Or regarding Riga only the on-going projects count but in Vilnius count on-going + planned?
Listed 38 on-going projects or projects in preparation above 10 mio EUR. List can not be full... simply these are projects I know. Should be more...

On-going
1. Saules akmens
2. Centra nams - on-going. One house will take whole quartal, unusual design.
3. Solaris - 5 25-floor apartments - they are not everyday commieblocks but something better. 50 mio EUR. Construction of 2 buildings ongoing.
4. Vestas stari 5 17floor apartments - construction of one building ongoing.
5. New Old City - exclusive quartal in " bad part" of Old Riga, first building has been started some weeks ago, 40 mio EUR.
6. GoPlanet - largest entertainment centre in Baltics. 15 mio EUR. Construction on-going.
7. Ice Hockey arena - 2004 - 2006. 30 mio EUR. Construction on-going on full speed.
8. Saliena town - new 600 ha town bordering Riga City. Development on-going on full speed, completed ice-arena, ongoing construction of residential district, 18-hole golf course. Investment 500 - 1000 mio EUR.
9. Dienvidu pakavs - new residential area with 700 apartments. Construction on-going.

To be started in 2004
10. Southern Bridge - 2004 - 2007, 200 mio EUR. 7 pylons should be made this autumn, financing is in place
11. Galerija Centrs - reconstructed+rebuilt quartal in Old Riga including glass covered street. 22 mio EUR. To be started in November.
12. Terbatas centrs - total rebuilding and new buildings in one Art Nouveau quartal, creating 24hour-round live quartal. 24 mio EUR. Winning design selected, preparatory works already starting.
13. Kliversala highrise complex - 180 mio EUR. Will include two 24 floor high-end apartment buildings, one 20 floor apartment building, three other buildings with 16 floors. Do not forget - these are not commieblocks but very expensive buildings... This project will include also hotel, business quartal. Construction to be started at the end of 2004.
14. Reval Hotel Latvia extension - 20 mio EUR. Rebuilding of quartal around Hotel Latvija. To be started in October 2004, all approvals received.
15. Daugavgrivas centrs - October 2004. 135 mio EUR. 150 000 m2 supermarket, two 30-floor tower.
16. Urban Art - residential complex (10 - 12 floorers) near Souther Bridge. To be started in 2004.
17. Top Maja - two 14-floor residentials, start in October 2004.

To be started in 2005
18. Lucavsala multifunctional centre - some 10 multistorey buildings, including round 26 floor highrise. Detailed design of whole project still on-going, although the first building was started some weeks ago.
19. Rigas skaistie skati - 24-floor high-end apartment+shopping highrise next to Saules akmens. Had to be started this spring, but they had to redesign it. Investor is doing all this. To be ready in 2006.
20. ”Pentagon” – new, very modern police administrative quartal. 30 mio EUR. Builders were contracted in 2003 but political scandals prevented the start of construction.
21. Northern terminal, airport. Not quite in Riga, but closely connected. Design tenders ending, to be completed in 2008.
22. Concert hall - to be ready until November 2008. Government has secured major part of financing already. 20 mio EUR
23. Rumbula residential district - detailed planning on-going. This is municipal project, more than 20 ha to be covered with apartment buildings. Along Maskavas Street these would be 12 floors high. To be started in 2005.
24. Zakusala multifunctional center - international tender announced, 8 ha land to be covered with the largest exhibition centre in Baltics, sports club, hotel, conference center.
25. Latvian National Library - 12 floors, unusual design, 120 mio EUR. To be started in 2005, completed in 2008. Today there was announced that reached agreement about taking over all 26 private properties in project site.
26. Ship passenger terminal - 2005 - 2007, 12 mio EUR.
27. Riga Plaza - sstylish 41 000 m2 supermarket with multiplex. Building site prepared but construction delayed to 2005.
28. Bavarian house - 40 mio EUR. District of high-end apartments. Start in Feb-Mar 2005.
29. Rebuilding Art Nouveau quartal near Bernu pasaule - the most expensive of whole quartal rebuildings.
30. Galerija Patollo - 8-floor high-end shopping center.


Serious, long-term perspective
31. Smilsu pulkstenis - 35 floor highrise with unique design, detailed design underway again after prolonged conflict between developer and project managers
32. Eastern Magistral - this one will be started in 2007. 80 mio EUR. Detailed design and land purchase on-going.
33. City of fountains - 13 ha of new apartment blocks with water theme parks and fountains in Mezaparks. First round of design tender completed one month ago. Expected costs - 14 mio EUR.
34. Skanstes Street business quartal - will include highrises. The designing of these quartals will not start earlier than in 2005, when main works at Ice Arena would be completed.
35. Daugava Northern crossing - 2007. Approximately 200 mio EUR.
36. High-tech industrial quartal near airport - 230 ha. Long-term project aiming at covering this area with small and larger high-tech industries + residential districts. Much construction on-going now, but whole program will last until 2018.
37. Riga City Council - in October would be presented first draft designs and price estimates to move Riga City Council to Pardaugava.
38. Bus terminal – 30 mio EUR. Redesigning of whole quartal. It has to start in 2005 but I have some doubts.

I have no problem if Vilnius lists more :) And I think that Tallin can say much as well.

@Gatis impressive list :yes: And don't call this fighting, it's really far from it ;)

OK OK, I yesterday was very tired and a little angry on everything :)

@Gatis

Daugavgriivas Centrs = Acropolis?

Yeah, that's the one - Daugavgrivas centrs is the same Akropolis. Hope they will not give name Akropolis, because project place already has got numerous ancient names. Akropolis is in Greece, and having this name somewhere else sounds like a cheap kitsch. Do not like the name of trade center Olympia which is nearby - they had to invent something better and more local. What has it to do with Olympus mountain in Greece or olympic movement? Nothing...

Do not know whether I had to list it as one project. I believe that they will start building supermarket in October this year but the skyscrapers will come somewhat later.

^^
those sweet dreams... :|

^^ for vilnius :|

^^ for vilnius :|
No, you're mistaken. John clearly directed it to Tallinn :D

wha? speaking of vilnius again? :D

Sorry to disappoint you, ch1le, but my harsh remark was directed to TALLINN :)

...talking about clusters
http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/traffic/IMG_4970.jpg

;)

This reminds me of when I was five. "My father is stronger than yours" :lol:

^^^
and Vilnius has the longest dick (129m in length!) :D

...talking about clusters
http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/traffic/IMG_4970.jpg

;)

very nice picture. some new strong qualities are there. besides it reminds me one of your or some your copatriot's thesis that "vilnius is a true trolley city" ;)

about comparision of our cities - my personal view from the coasts of daugava river is following. i think that vilnius for a 10 or more years is a step ahead. especially when one enters vilnius from ukmerge-panevezis-riga direction can feel the scale of development. there are some very nice buildings, unfornately whole urban landscape could be nicer. i haven't been in vilnius for some time and cannot say about new highrises a lot, however i think that they also more impressive than in riga.

about new development proposals in riga - about some of them personally i am sceptical. for example about highrises near hockey hall in skanstes street or in lucavsala or about "sandclock" design gatis gushes very much about. the design to my mind is not very convincing - its proportions are good for 15cm object but not for 150 m object. of course, about visual image it's subjective. but knowing developers - they are mainly interseted in profit, but current visual apperance makes lot of problems - some structural, some management, and very complicated (for latvia) glass facade when they will have to cut each one piece seperately. if they get a investor and a more precise program i forecast the change of outer apperance (like it was done in saules akmens and not bad, that's for sure).

after writing this i browsed gatis' list, and still hope that the majority of the objects will be implemented! the same about vilnius, why not? ;)

hehe vilnius is a step ahead, but tallinn is a Few steps ahead! :) The pic above shows vilniuses scrapers.. yet if u add 5-10 storey buildings next to it, as in tallinn, the dont look that spectacular anymore! Tell me about projects in the ncc cluster, if the scrapers are scattered around everywhere they just dont make my day... take moscow, has alot of scrapers.. but all are scattered!

u might have scrapers scattered around, but tallinn beats u when it comes to cluster 2008! :D
Maybe Tallinn or maybe Riga or maybe Vilnius or maybe Kaunas or maybe Klaipeda will have the best cluster in the Baltic states in 2008 ;). It's really hard to say :) - all I know is that today the best modern skyline is in Vilnius and the second best skyline is in Tallinn. By the time when U/C buildings in Tallinn will be finished the situation might change because today there are no U/C high-rise buildings in NCC (except "Vyrokas" residential). Btw I think that when Bussiness Triangle will be finished in Vilnius - it'll be even better than NCC (if there will be no new projects in NCC).

I applaud your thoughts & perspective, zigurds! :okay:

And, in case I didn't say it before: welcome to the forum! :wave:

I don't know if it's just me, but after looking at the pictures in another thread it seems that the Vilnius' NCC is situated just in the middle of nowhere. Towers are nice but the surrounding area makes me think of a much smaller town than Vilnius actually is. Most of the highrises in other cities in Europe are situated in in city centres or other very prosperous areas, with modern infrastructure, probably it is all still to come in Vilnius, (besides the big road then next to towers, looks cool) but once again - it's sad to see what's around the towers... Tallinn is has it a bit better, Riga - not yet a cluster, but location of Saules Akmens is very good if you know that the area around it has lots of empty land where in near future more highrises would be built. Vilnius NCC just seems be situated in area where not so much can be changed/built in the nearest future. I also remember when travelling by bus through Vilnius, about a year ago, entering the city I saw nice new big malls next to very cool commieblocks and a big highway in the middle of it, and then the city centre and the bus station - just like 2 completely different worlds...

http://img75.exs.cx/img75/27/vilnius.jpg

http://img75.exs.cx/img75/8553/vilnius2.jpg

http://img75.exs.cx/img75/4690/vilnius4.jpg

LatvianGG: I've been thinking the exact same thing, to be honest.

I don't know if it's just me, but after looking at the pictures in another thread it seems that the Vilnius' NCC is situated just in the middle of nowhere. Towers are nice but the surrounding area makes me think of a much smaller town than Vilnius actually is. Most of the highrises in other cities in Europe are situated in in city centres or other very prosperous areas, with modern infrastructure, probably it is all still to come in Vilnius, (besides the big road then next to towers, looks cool) but once again - it's sad to see what's around the towers...

You're quite right, the development started in completely neglected area just two years ago, before this there was nothing except shabby "Lietuva Hotel" (which was restored a year ago) and few other Soviet-built things which were forgotten for decades. Now the area which is seen behind the newly built highrises is known as "Snipiskes", it's considered as the worst place of the city, filled with huts built in interwar times where not much changed since then. Now the whole area was selected as key priority in development of the new center area, those few new highrises were the very first new objects built after decades of neglection, the infrastructure (the main street, all communications, underground crossings etc.) is also newly built. The area is very close to the city center (just on the opposite bank of the river) and has big empty spaces for new buildings and lots of worthless buildings which can be demolished so the purpose is to create a new modern city center for offices, state institutions and private enterprises while leaving the old city center for entertainment, bars and tourism (now most of the state institutions and offices are located in the old center which is not suitable for this).


Vilnius NCC just seems be situated in area where not so much can be changed/built in the nearest future.

in this picture behind the new highrises you see a big area filled with small buildings, it's those huts I mentioned. Area development plan includes the redevelopment of whole this area with new street network and areas for office, residential and other quarters, of course all those old huts will be wiped out as it was done in the place of the new buildings you see here
http://img75.exs.cx/img75/4690/vilnius4.jpg


this is the model photo taken from the same angle as the previous photo
http://img44.exs.cx/img44/2010/plan2.jpg

Vilnius NCC just seems be situated in area where not so much can be changed/built in the nearest future.
Very interesting opinion, but I can't understand why instead of big area with empty spaces and small wooden huts can't be built something new while at the same time big concrete buildings are being demolished in Vilnius and instead of them new projects are being realised? :? And there are official plans by municipality of Vilnius to redevelop the whole area - not some rumours set by a few people at ssc forum :).

Edit: And that model which John posted wasn't made by John himself - it was made by our city planners :).

Edit: And that model which John posted wasn't made by John himself

LOL :laugh:

You're quite right, the development started in completely neglected area just two years ago, before this there was nothing except shabby "Lietuva Hotel" (which was restored a year ago) and few other Soviet-built things which were forgotten for decades. Now the area which is seen behind the newly built highrises is known as "Snipiskes", it's considered as the worst place of the city, filled with huts built in interwar times where not much changed since then. Now the whole area was selected as key priority in development of the new center area, those few new highrises were the very first new objects built after decades of neglection, the infrastructure (the main street, all communications, underground crossings etc.) is also newly built. The area is very close to the city center (just on the opposite bank of the river) and has big empty spaces for new buildings and lots of worthless buildings which can be demolished so the purpose is to create a new modern city center for offices, state institutions and private enterprises while leaving the old city center for entertainment, bars and tourism (now most of the state institutions and offices are located in the old center which is not suitable for this).

in this picture behind the new highrises you see a big area filled with small buildings, it's those huts I mentioned. Area development plan includes the redevelopment of whole this area with new street network and areas for office, residential and other quarters, of course all those old huts will be wiped out as it was done in the place of the new buildings you see here


This explains a lot :D I really hope that the rumors I heard of the same redevelopment to be realised in Riga Maskacha district will come out and would be realised the same way they are planned for Vilnius.

@John: ;)

And btw that neglected area is in the city center (very often it's written that it's 1 km from the city center) - I know that it's very unique situation.
There is one more shot which shows the place:
http://img28.exs.cx/img28/9112/01810004.jpg

I heard of the same redevelopment to be realised in Riga Maskacha district will come out and would be realised the same way they are planned for Vilnius.
I hope that Maskachka (in Riga) will not face the same fate as Snipiskes. Seems, in Snipiskes there really is not much value but Maskavas suburb un Riga is historic, with street network from 14th century and with hundreds of valuable buildings... In Maskachka there is planned evolutionary not revolutionary development.

i have been to vilnius 2 times.. yet i have failed to see any city centre, well of course NCC is.. but other stuff just seemed like old town! how much did land cost at ncc before the construction?

i have been to vilnius 2 times.. yet i have failed to see any city centre, well of course NCC is.. but other stuff just seemed like old town! how much did land cost at ncc before the construction?
I don't know how you imagine the city center. If you expected to see some monument with the words "the city center of Vilnius" written on it then Vilnius does not have such a city center :D. The old town is a part of city center, big district called "NewTown" also belongs to the city center, NCC is also a part of city center. In the places mentioned before are located offices where people work, museums, government institutions, etc. etc.

ok ok, i rememberd sorry! :) i too alcoholized when staying in vilnius the last time. I only remeber girls and scrapers... but its coming back to me...

Edited: Well, I didn't see there another page in this topic :D

Well guys,

the locations of the Vilnius high-rise district is chosen perfectly, as you can see there are only huts in that districts. In the future plans those hut's will be torn down and a downtown, very modern part of the city with offices and entertaniment will be built.

This district was built during interwar ploish period and somehow managed to be saved by the soviets. Although now the invasion to the district is already undergoing ;)

Here you can see a plan for this district, the white parts won't be changed
http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Projects/ncc3.jpg

http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Projects/ncc2.jpg

http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Projects/ncc1.jpg

I don't actually see another location more fit for high-rises in Vilnius. And as for being of the middle of nowhere, that's just it's hilly landscape :D

Aren’t the buildings behind the skyscrapers in Vilnius of historical value? I mean, they could be shabby looking now, but doesn't they reflect the life of the people at that times? In Riga there are many wooden buildings around the center - most of them are in a bad condition, sometimes as a distinct piece they doesn't have any architectural value, but together they are a monument of history and reflect the life of the yesteryears. Every time when somebody in the middle of a historical quarter (not only center, but also the historical suburbs) wants to build something or demolish something, there are big public discussion in media and society, whether it's good architecture or not. Sometimes that's the reason why some projects are waiting for the approval to be built for years. I am surprised how rapid both in Tallinn and Vilnius high-rise buildings are built. In Riga just because of the height of sunstone and its location on the riverside - we were warned that Riga historical center could be eliminated from UNESCO. In Tallinn there are at least 5 high-rises in the same distance from the old town as the Saules akmens in Riga. And unlike in Riga, these high-rises in Tallinn are in center side of the city (Saules akmens is on the other side of the river, what's not usually see as center). Is Tallinn still in UNESCOs list?

Actually in Riga center there is prohibited to build new buildings with a height exceeding 21m. Therefore there were long and painful discussions about the Stockmann center because it was couple of meters higher and now the same with the new Office center in Citadele (to the north from the old town) because on the corner it has something like a tower 26 m high.

I think when the guys from the State Inspection for Heritage Protection (They are in charge to prohibit to build something in Riga center and they hate buildings over 21m height) see the projects and buildings in the center of Vilnius and Tallinn their hair stands on end.

Nope, some of them probably are, but others are just nothing worth. The district was built during the polish occupation in interwar period, so it's not that old. Moreover, it's a very dangerous and nasty place, thus I don't see a reason to preserve Sznipiszki ;)

Each city has different fate and different approaches. Wooden heritage in Riga could be one thing and Snipiskes in Vilnius - another thing.
But regarding the trick with UNESCO World Heritage - I really do not understand how Vilnius and Tallinn have escaped huge international scandals. F.e. Koln Cathedral is put on the list of heritage in danger just because on the other side of Rhine there are built some highrises. You may also learn how it was with Wien - their planned highrises also were in some distance from World Heritage monument but they had to terminate these projects.
On the other hand - in London near Greenwich there are built highrises and no scandals heard.

Anyway - I liked that in Riga there was that much noise around these new constructions. Although that UNESCO scandal around Saules akmens was the most stupid of them all.
This has slowed down numerous projects and has put huge pressure on developers and architects. But it will end with better looks of the city.

As I understood main area for construction of skyscrpers in Riga should be southern part of Kipsala
Picture of Kipsala from Gatis thread Riga City development news
http://www.realty.lv/rus/img/news/12429224032004135638.jpg

Picture of Kipsala from Gatis thread All highrises if Riga - encyclopaedia
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/VisiRigas/_SkatuPunktsVecriga.jpg

Photo taken in June, 2004
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/romas/Latvija/14390010.jpg


Some words about Kipsala. This weekend I walked through that island from Enkuru iela to Radisson SAS hotel by Agenskalana licis.
http://www.rsp.lv/arh/bildes/kartes/kipsala_kliversala.gif
BTW, what is started to built close to Lauksaimnieku centrs / Parex banka in Eskporta iela?

The RSAS Daugava is most terrible among in Baltics RSASes. But there are nice views to old Riga and to Saules akmens from the RSASD
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/romas/Latvija/14400009.jpg

Unfortunately middle part of Kipsala is to become low heigh residential area for new Latvians.
Due to southern part of Kipsala I am not sure is this place the best due to traffic and parking problems. (Since this Friday traffic for vehicles is prohibited on bridges 7am to 10 am )
We will see is enough places for other skyscrapers after opening of Hansabanka in Saules akmens building.
Another problem could arise due to land speculants. I don't know do areas for building are prepared and how prices rose since begining of that Saules akmens how. At least rising of prices should be the 2x-10x (same as in Šnipiškės of Vilnius ).

Some posts from other possible places for skyscrapers in Riga
I heard of the same redevelopment to be realised in Riga Maskacha district will come out and would be realised the same way they are planned for Vilnius.
I hope that Maskachka (in Riga) will not face the same fate as Snipiskes. Seems, in Snipiskes there really is not much value but Maskavas suburb un Riga is historic, with street network from 14th century and with hundreds of valuable buildings... In Maskachka there is planned evolutionary not revolutionary development.
Maskačka (Maskavas iela), June 2004
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/romas/Latvija/14390009.jpg

There are other maskačkas with nice wies of old Riga too. Especially in Pardaugava (left coast of Daugava river).
Akmenu iela, June, 2004
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/romas/Latvija/14400003.jpg

Radisson SAS in Riga is really sad looking. The architecture of the building itself is sad and the city has not brought in order the streets around it. This creates bad impression about Riga for many visitors... At the same time city is reconstructing streets which look better. Weirdos...
@Romas - near Ministry of Agriculture there is built this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/lecekte/kopskats.jpg
At first I did not like this idea, but now I like it very much.

Middle part of Kipsala has got valuable wooden architecture from 17th - 19th century and it is good that these new rich people are reconstructing it - in many cases very thoroughly and exactly. It would be sad if this value would be lost. There are no highrises planned.

From this Friday the traffic for lorries over the bridges in daytime is forbidden. This decreases the traffic jams per some 10 - 20%. Still better...
It is becoming more and more clear that Kipsala will have to compete with two more highrise clusters in Riga - at both ends of Northern Tunnel. These places will be much better available for traffic. Still Kipsala and its surroundings currently have plans for 6 - 7 more highrises.

glad to hear, gatis, that there are still planned highrises there, in tallinn main cluster Maakri is the strongest, and will stay as it, although the other cluster Liivalaia, will be stronger when it comes to finances and business, the third one, is fastly developing into a good region, but its still far from Liivalaia and Maakri. The average height in those clusters are respectfully: 23 - 12 - 14
All are quite visible from some angles, and form a cool skyline.

Has anybody got information about that?

-----
Balasta Properties plans to build a highrise building in Kipsala in Riga in the first half of 2005.

The building, known as Da Vinci, will be designed by Meinhard von Gerkan in cooperation with Avotins, Vincents un Partneri architects. It will cost around EUR 40 million.

Meinhard von Gerkan will present the design in Latvia on November 30.

Balasta Properties plans to receive building permit in March 2005 and finish the construction by November 2006.

Source: BBN

Yeah, @sky-ride - I described this in my Riga City development thread, with rendering as well.

Thanks Gatis!
Sorry for ignorance, just didn't have time for search. With reference much easier.
Thanks once again
:)

if latvians started to talk about infrastructuale projects like bridges and stuff, i should mencion that next year the roads around vilnius will be started to build, to reduce the car number in the city centre - the roads will coast about one billion litas, it's about 300 mln euros,also you told that in ryga is now building a biggest fun park in baltics - infact, that's not true, because the biggest prak is now started to build around SIEMENS arena and in few years the bigghest park will be built in elektrenai (that's about 40 km from vilnius), besides that vilnius has 6 universities and two biotechnology, material science and measurement, laser and IT enterprises also a huge institute of phisics, and several more smaller institutes and there is a plan tu unite them in one place (sauletekis valey), and when united, it will be one of the largest science places in eastern, or mayby the whole europe, there are plans to build there new huge laboratory's as i know, so in some years vilnius will become a city where a new technology's will be developed with a enormous speed and size, so i think vilnius has a better chanses to become most modern city in middle and eastern europe (that's the main object infact), and also i think that we shouldn't fight whose city is better, for reall i think we should help more each other, couse while we'r fighting, a city like klaipeda may well run over us, just look at the plans they have got(in a near future they will bring down almoust 1/3 of the city, to build a huge harbour, there are plans of a new scyscrapers much more taller than the once it tallin, a huge district of apartments like these one's:
http://www.miestai.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=73&Itemid= ), allright i talk to much :)

srry for so many mistakes, it's just that i was writing very fast

if latvians started to talk about infrastructuale projects like bridges and stuff, i should mencion that next year the roads around vilnius will be started to build, to reduce the car number in the city centre - the roads will coast about one billion litas, it's about 300 mln euros,also you told that in ryga is now building a biggest fun park in baltics - infact, that's not true, because the biggest prak is now started to build around SIEMENS arena and in few years the bigghest park will be built in elektrenai (that's about 40 km from vilnius), besides that vilnius has 6 universities and two biotechnology, material science and measurement, laser and IT enterprises also a huge institute of phisics, and several more smaller institutes and there is a plan tu unite them in one place (sauletekis valey), and when united, it will be one of the largest science places in eastern, or mayby the whole europe, there are plans to build there new huge laboratory's as i know, so in some years vilnius will become a city where a new technology's will be developed with a enormous speed and size, so i think vilnius has a better chanses to become most modern city in middle and eastern europe (that's the main object infact), and also i think that we shouldn't fight whose city is better, for reall i think we should help more each other, couse while we'r fighting, a city like klaipeda may well run over us, just look at the plans they have got(in a near future they will bring down almoust 1/3 of the city, to build a huge harbour, there are plans of a new scyscrapers much more taller than the once it tallin, a huge district of apartments like these one's:
http://www.miestai.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=73&Itemid= ), allright i talk to much :)

srry for so many mistakes, it's just that i was writing very fast

Is this bragging, or what? :D Anyways welcome to the forum.

Sveikas, pabloni :cheers1:

Yeah, Vilnius is going to rock soon, we just need to wait a little

Beje, žvilgtelk į forumą, paminėtą šio pranešimo paraše :D

wow Pablonis... that was great, made me laugh alot :)
I hope you are aware that the highes approved building in tallinn is 145m.........
and plz stop the Klaipeda talk, only chance klaipeda will get overrunning vilnius or tallinn, not even talking about riga is if russians bomb us back to stoneage :). Talking about funparks... erm, Danish amusement park has plans to build a amusement park in tallinn... that would be a investment of about 1 bio kroon...thats about 66mio euro - alot of money for a fun park.
most modern city in middle and eastern europe
and that, well, is just comedy, we wont become even close to modern, any of us Tallinn, riga, klaipeda nor vilnius with all those commies we have, never never never...
plus the prospect of vilnius science park ever beating finlands biggest sciencefacilities is just amuzing.

Ok... Welcome to the forums! Feel free to argue with me :) :)

Welcome, Pabloni! :wave:

@ch1le
You might be quite right here, although we have to consider that unlike in Estonia where almost everything is concentrated in Tallinn, in Lithuania it's a bit different. Fun parks or big scientific institutions may not be located only in Vilnius. There are at least other 2 cities which stand on the same scale (well, more or less) - Kaunas and Klaipeda, we should not underestimate them (at least Klaipeda for now, Kaunas seems to be lagging a bit ;)).

John, im very aware of the situation in Lithuania... :) kaunas and klaipeda do offer big competition, but they can't match to Vilnius... well, mby kaunas, since its in the middle, but klaipeda ... seems weird, well, whats the population again? Its the third biggest? or 4th? is Siulai or Panevezis bigger?

John, im very aware of the situation in Lithuania... :) kaunas and klaipeda do offer big competition, but they can't match to Vilnius... well, mby kaunas, since its in the middle, but klaipeda ... seems weird, well, whats the population again? Its the third biggest? or 4th? is Siulai or Panevezis bigger?

Klaipeda's population is about 200,000 so by this figure it's not a competitor to Vilnius or Kaunas. On the other hand if we take a look at the number of investments flowing to Klaipeda the FDI flow into Klaipeda should exceed the FDI flow into Vilnius. Not talking about other major investments. F.e. right now there are two (!) some of Europe's biggest factories of plastic raw material (each worth of nearly 100mio Eur) U/C in Klaipeda.

You might take a look at some project details and have an idea what industrial projects (not to mention residential, commercial and retail) are underway in this rather small city http://www.constructus.lt/215

"Siulai" lol :D

Klaipeda is 3rd city with 200,000, but the population is growing as Vilnius' does. I believe theme park in Vilnius will cost more than 66 mln €, because the arena itself (included to the same park) costed 20 €. The waterpark will be built soon, but don't remember the cost of it. Many additional part will be added in the future, the whole park area is going to be 550,000 m2 if I'm not mistaking :)

ok ok, siauliai. hey, mby you would like to try and name other estonian citys :) :)
hmhh, industry indeed is booming there... but them alone wont make a big difference :P ok, fun park, in that sense, ok, but ur speaking about like arena + waterpark + that and this... but just the alleged amusement park (rollercoasters and stuff) would cost 66mio euro in tallinn :P

its not about the price
Lithuanian construction companies have started to import Belarussian workers who work for piss small money, thats why they're able to offer cheaper services

ok ok, siauliai. hey, mby you would like to try and name other estonian citys :) :)
hmhh, industry indeed is booming there... but them alone wont make a big difference :P ok, fun park, in that sense, ok, but ur speaking about like arena + waterpark + that and this... but just the alleged amusement park (rollercoasters and stuff) would cost 66mio euro in tallinn :P

ch1le, how come a factory of nearly 100 million doesn't make a difference but a rollercoaster park of 66million does make a difference? That's something I don't get, could you explain this to me? :)

Estonian cities... hm... Tallinn, Tallinn and yes, Tallinn. Did I mention Talsinki? :D

Ok, it's Tartu, Viljandi, Pärnu, Kuresaare, Kohtla-Järve, Narva etc. :)

EDITED: The plains of future Sauletekis valley (Hi-tech), area reaches those yellow commieblocks.

http://img45.photobucket.com/albums/v137/Mantaz/IMGP4040.jpg

John ofcourse it does:P But still, a factory wont give as much to city imo, as a fun park, funparks create urbanity, tourism, skyline (mmm), jobs (well ofcourse factory makes more, the alleged amusement park in tallinn would give 3000 jobs, what the number in those factories?). They are both important ofcourse
Mantaz, huge :eek:
aahh, i give up :)

edit: ok, take for example small city in Estonia Kunda 4000 people, is getting a factory which will cost 160mio euro... am i screaming about it? :P

when is the construction of that valley thing gonna start?
cause its been on the plans for a couple of years now

Nobody tells that, but the project is real enough

Btw, here's the development overview. The red zones would be newly built ;)
http://www.vilnius.lt/new/images/ziniuekon/006a.gif

On the other hand if we take a look at the number of investments flowing to Klaipeda the FDI flow into Klaipeda should exceed the FDI flow into Vilnius.
Are you kidding?
2003 data (FDI mln lt):
Klaipeda: 1003,83
Vilnius: 8297,95

can you find the FDI figure for tallinn? i failed :P

can you find the FDI figure for tallinn? i failed :P
I found data for Vilnius and Klaipeda in the page of Lthuanian statistics departament. I'll try to find data for Tallinn, I think it should be higher than in Vilnius.

Are you kidding?
2003 data (FDI mln lt):
Klaipeda: 1003,83
Vilnius: 8297,95

Edd, read my post once again. I wrote FDI flow which is not the same as total FDI which you wrote. Of course the total FDI in Vilnius is and will remain higher but I was talking about the new FDI which is coming in this and in the next few years.

@John:
FDI flow:
Klaipeda 1022,78 mln LT (2002 year) 1003,83 mln. LT (2003 year): -18,95
Vilnius 6829,58 mln LT (2002 year) 8297,95 mln. LT (2003 year): +1468,37

If you'll say that the data is old: I doubt that you already have data for this and next few years.

@John:
FDI flow:
Klaipeda 1022,78 mln LT (2002 year) 1003,83 mln. LT (2003 year): -18,95
Vilnius 6829,58 mln LT (2002 year) 8297,95 mln. LT (2003 year): +1468,37

If you'll say that the data is old: I doubt that you already have data for this and next few years.

I'm talking about 2004 and later years, not about 2002 or hell knows what.
I never said I have data or that I know it, I just wrote it "should exceed" what means that I think this is possible ;). I'm making such assumption looking at the amount of new projects such as Indorama's plastic raw material factory (which is basically an empty-field foreign investment of 100mio Eur) and other projects developed by foreign companies. I might be wrong though, but we'll see.

@pablonis - this is unfair. I am not taking Riga as No.1. in everything. This competition was brought up by Lithuanians. I answered to @Mantaz post - accounted the projects coming to be realised in Riga. I really do not think that Riga is going to beat everyone in everything. Am I guilty that Lithuanians at beginning do not show all what they have in pocket? I asked you to account the projects and never said that Riga is the complete winner. Btw. Lithuania has nearly two times more people than Latvia - and more things are happening and will happen in Lithuania. If it would be otherwise - it would be strange.

Next - are we guilty that Riga is the dominating settlement in Latvia? And is it something bad (then - in what way)? There are historical reasons - for most part of history Riga was bigger centre than just capital of Latvia (the later exists only 85 years). A bit like medieval Singapore on important trade route. This is the fate of the city. It does not mean that people in Tukums, Cesis or most other Latvian towns are living in stone age - they just are not living in city.

What I had to do to be "correct"? To say - "no, of course nobody can stand near Vilnius... Sorry to bother you"? Is this the only right attitude? And - please - do not say that you are always correct. There are rather many times when in each Baltic country are announced projects as "biggest in Baltics" which is not true at the moment of this announcement. That's the part of advertisement game.
Yes, I found it - "GoPlanet" in Riga announce themselves as the biggest entertainment park in Baltics. Sorry, then I somehow believed them. In Riga metro alone there are two bigger amusement parks existing and one far bigger in preparation than their project.

Ehhh.... Why I ever entered this competition. That was stupid.

@pablonis - this is unfair. I am not taking Riga as No.1. in everything. This competition was brought up by Lithuanians. I answered to @Mantaz post - accounted the projects coming to be realised in Riga. I really do not think that Riga is going to beat everyone in everything. Am I guilty that Lithuanians at beginning do not show all what they have in pocket? I asked you to account the projects and never said that Riga is the complete winner. Btw. Lithuania has nearly two times more people than Latvia - and more things are happening and will happen in Lithuania. If it would be otherwise - it would be strange.

Next - are we guilty that Riga is the dominating settlement in Latvia? And is it something bad (then - in what way)? There are historical reasons - for most part of history Riga was bigger centre than just capital of Latvia (the later exists only 85 years). A bit like medieval Singapore on important trade route. This is the fate of the city. It does not mean that people in Tukums, Cesis or most other Latvian towns are living in stone age - they just are not living in city.

What I had to do to be "correct"? To say - "no, of course nobody can stand near Vilnius... Sorry to bother you"? Is this the only right attitude? And - please - do not say that you are always correct. There are rather many times when in each Baltic country are announced projects as "biggest in Baltics" which is not true at the moment of this announcement. That's the part of advertisement game.
Yes, I found it - "GoPlanet" in Riga announce themselves as the biggest entertainment park in Baltics. Sorry, then I somehow believed them. In Riga metro alone there are two bigger amusement parks existing and one far bigger in preparation than their project.

Ehhh.... Why I ever entered this competition. That was stupid.

I think you are taking everything to seriuos. None of us think that Vilnius is better than Riga or Tallinn (i hope ;)).

All cities in Baltic states are charming and gets a lot of attention from investors. I do think we don't need such discussion's here, we can never compare two cities or projects in them.

just 1 question Geex, why did you type Ryga and Tallin? they are some made up cities of yours, and are you just makeing fun of us!

just 1 question Geex, why did you type Ryga and Tallin? they are some made up cities of yours, and are you just makeing fun of us!

No no don't think anything bad, i just writed Riga as i spell it in Lithuanian and mistiped Tallinn. Sorry.

is riga in Lithuanian Ryga? :P kewl

is riga in Lithuanian Ryga? :P kewl

Nope, Riga in Lithuanian is Riga, but it's my who allways spells it with "y" and i sometimes write it this way, still don't think anything bad it's my mistakes.

None of us think that Vilnius is better than Riga or Tallinn (i hope ;)).

WHAT?! Are you crazy?! Of course Vilnius is better than Riga or Tallinn! ;) :D

And I think that for most Rigians Riga is MUCH better than Vilnius or Tallinn and for Tallinners Tallinn is better than Riga or Vilnius (or even Helsinki ;)).
One thing is as we compare cities in terms of our personal attitude and another thing is as we compare cities in terms of some objective facts such as population, GDP per capita etc.
The first is very clear (that's where I think that Vilnius is better than anything else, because it's better FOR ME ;)). And the second one is always open for a discussion.
Gatis, I don't think you're making a mistake entering such "competition". I don't see anything wrong if we compare some stats and stuff like this (in fact I like it very much). Isn't it good to know some more things about our cities and try to compare them with each other? That's what is done everywhere and that helps to realise what is what in this world :)

Nope, Riga in Lithuanian is Riga, but it's my who allways spells it with "y" and i sometimes write it this way, still don't think anything bad it's my mistakes.
AFAIK it used to be Ryga till now, but maybe they changed that ;)

WHAT?! Are you crazy?! Of course Vilnius is better than Riga or Tallinn! ;) :D

And I think that for most Rigians Riga is MUCH better than Vilnius or Tallinn and for Tallinners Tallinn is better than Riga or Vilnius (or even Helsinki ;)).
One thing is as we compare cities in terms of our personal attitude and another thing is as we compare cities in terms of some objective facts such as population, GDP per capita etc.
The first is very clear (that's where I think that Vilnius is better than anything else, because it's better FOR ME ;)). And the second one is always open for a discussion.
Gatis, I don't think you're making a mistake entering such "competition". I don't see anything wrong if we compare some stats and stuff like this (in fact I like it very much). Isn't it good to know some more things about our cities and try to compare them with each other? That's what is done everywhere and that helps to realise what is what in this world :)

But i think this discussion will end "in terms of our personal attitude". I do like our capital most, that's why i don't want such competition because i don't know can i be objective enought.

sometimes comparing is fun, but when people start throwing "facts that are idiotic" around it becomes rather sad. But yeah, generally it is like that you go to tallinn ask which is better they say Tallinn, in riga, Riga, and so on, i think its totally normal :P, but figuring out what is the case really, by comparing GDP, PPP, so on is quite productive, entertaining and informative!

AFAIK it used to be Ryga till now, but maybe they changed that ;)

Well then i'm totally lost in Lithuanian.. all this time i thought we use Riga..

Hehe one damn funny and stupid thing..

Now I know a new and good swearword that can be applied for this situation:

"Maybe you just go and discuss with Coth!" :D [no offence ;)]

I also like these competitions sometimes because its cool to see replys come so fast!

Well then i'm totally lost in Lithuanian.. all this time i thought we use Riga..

Hehe one damn funny and stupid thing..
Hehe, don't you know a store named "Ryga" in Antakalnis? :)

@ch1le Ryga maybe is funny, but estonian Riia is funnier :D

Hmm, never noticed it lol :P Riia :P lol... it is funny .)

Hehe, don't you know a store named "Ryga" in Antakalnis? :)

@ch1le Ryga maybe is funny, but estonian Riia is funnier :D

I know i just never noticed was it Riga or Ryga ;)

"Maybe you just go and discuss with Coth!" :D [no offence ;)]

If anybody thinks that Vilnius is not the most prosperous and generally the best city in the world, they are Lithuanophobes! :D

Gatis:
srry if i insulted you, i realy didn't mean that

hey and i am really telling you all that you shouldn't underestimate klaipeda only because there are only 200 000 inhabitants in it, infact in klaipedas region is living more people then in kaunas and talinn cities (about 450 - 500 thousand people), also it has a big harbor, witch will be increased two or even three times, it is also the most northern harbor in baltic sea witch don't freeze in winter. But i stick to my opinion, that every citie in baltics has it's own prospects, like ryga is the largest city in baltics, almoust an only city in country (so almoust all atention goes to her), a beutifull river, sea only few km away and islands, witch i would love to have in vilnius, then talinn, he also has it's plans with helsinki (as i heard they are planing some kind o a tunnel under sea betwen them), vilnius and kaunas is building so cald "dipolis" (two city's in one)with almoust 1,7 mln people in that dipolis teritory and as i mentioned the future of dipolis is fast science development and the reaserch of new technology's, so as i said all cities have their own prospect's. and i think that nobody realy would argue with me when i say that at the time vilnius with it's project's (not only the scyscrapers and stuff like that) is far more ahead than any city in baltics. A few years ago talinn was leading, now vilnius, in future maybe riga kaunas klaipeda talinn again, or even tartu(aufcourse it's just a joke, but nobody knows, maybe for real as someone told here, the rusians will bombard a shit out of us :D )

srry for my english again :)

Great comparison. It seems to me that all three Baltic capitals seem to be going great in regards to highrises. At least you have competiton. In Croatia, there seems to be no competition to Zagreb's current construction boom with our neighbours. So far most high rises are office buildings but soon we will also have classy highrise apartments in out new city centre. Great stuff guys. :)

What is the accurate definition of the Klaipeda region?


@ Gatis
If it helps at all, I feel for you. :)

Ch1le:
i'm also not screaming that the japps are making plans of a factory in kaunas, witch will cost about billion euros and will produce benzanol or something like that, to whole europe

a billion euros? u sure its not 100'000 euros?

well as i remember in the article was writen a billion euros

^^^ what article? that'd be cool :cool:

Ch1le:
i'm also not screaming that the japps are making plans of a factory in kaunas, witch will cost about billion euros and will produce benzanol or something like that, to whole europe
But this information is necessary here. It can be presented in a calm way, without screaming.
i think that nobody realy would argue with me when i say that at the time vilnius with it's project's (not only the scyscrapers and stuff like that) is far more ahead than any city in baltics
I feel that anyone in the other Baltic states will disagree with this. I for sure will disagree.

Mantaz:
i read it on delfi.lt buissnes news

ok pablonis, sry, but it seems to me you live under a rock :). you cant compere klaipeda and tallinn, Tallinn gets 80% of Estonian FDI, 75% of GDP concentrated there, 80% of industries, 80% of foreign investors, 85% of all businesses... tallinn region is over half a million people... just tallinn boarders are not updated.

Project of a billion euros hah? thats a little too much, u can build a couple of aircraft carriers with that money...
vilnius with it's project's (not only the scyscrapers and stuff like that) is far more ahead than any city in baltics
well, I aint sure of that, it isnt ahead with skyscrapers, riga has far more projects, and the spurt Vilnius made with skyscrapers is surely impressive, least to say, but dont get overhead with this, tallinn has always developed, not talking about Riga, Klaipeda has harbour, true, but Tallinn harbour is one of the leading harbours in the Baltic sea

Our Tallinn forumers don't post nearly as much information concerning other projects here as Gatis or Vilnius forumers do about their city. Also, the thing about best skyline with best skyscrapers is objective. Pablonis, have you often been outside Klaipeda, visiting Riga and Tallinn? Have you even read Gatis' fantastic thread concerning Riga, or seen that list with those several 30-40 story tall high-rises being planned in Tallinn?

There's nothing wrong with being biased with your own city / country, just don't push your opinion down others' throats too harshly.

Cheers,
OL

Ch1le:
i'm also not screaming that the japps are making plans of a factory in kaunas, witch will cost about billion euros and will produce benzanol or something like that, to whole europe


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That's roughly five times the most expensive construction project currently in Finland, the Kampin keskus. Must be some big ass factory.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

^
The fifth nuclear reactor is more expensive. :)

Edit: it's three billion euros

Edit II - the Sequel: It's usually good thing to post source in internet debate, if you're claiming something truly outrageous.

200 mio euros? wheres the Finland i know!

edit: OL, now thats more Like it!

@OL: They haven't started the construction of the reactor as of yet. Kamppi project is the most expensive one currently, as I said. ;)

@OL: They haven't started the construction of the reactor as of yet. Kamppi project is the most expensive one currently, as I said. ;)

I think they're already assembling the reactor itself, or manufacturing parts for it, so technically -- you could say it's "under construction".

But yeah, my bad. Didn't notice the word "currently". :)

Let's not stuff this thread too full of Finland, though. With all those threads up lately, I suppose no one gives a damn.

Regarding big investments: there was also planned pulp mill in Latvia, Jekabpils district (by Finnish investors), costs - 0,9 billions of EUR. Look their homepage - www.balticpulp.lv. Rendering:
http://www.balticpulp.lv/bildes/illustracijas/vizual.jpg
But the industry was too damaging to environment - chlorine bleaching and some more bad things. Public protests and negative conclusion of environment impact assessment board have stopped this project, now it seems nearly dead.
Next big investments - two large biofuel factories - one in Riga, another in Jelgava. Hope - these will go through, much better than that pulp thing.

Although further reading shows that those local bio-fuel factories show somewhat inflatedinvestment sums in hope to get more EU support. Should be careful with them.

that's realt good, i chear riga for those project's, but what number of them had really started???? and as i said earlier in future maybe riga will be leading and i see nothing wrong with that

yeas, i was in riga and talinn about 5 times, that's not much but i think it count's
as gatis just told about project in Jekabpils, a billion euros is prety posible money, especialy when you know how japps are crazy about high technology's

about that guy from estonia, he's so pesimistic about other cities, well ...... "as someone mencioned earlier, in the world there is only one city, and it's talinn - he's the biggest, strongest, smartest, fastest ...., oh yeah and also the real name of helsinki is talsinki and he's just a village nearby talinn", but the problem is that i almoust don't see any project coming from there :/, and Ch1le - those number don't say anything, becouse there is only what? maybe 900 000 estnians (1,5 mln with rusians as i know), so it's very little (in vilnius kaunas dipolis there's few hundred thousands people more) and talinn is the only city in estonia

about klaipeda, i'm talking about project's wich for now is just considering ( some already u/c, and some will start in few months), it's just my opinion, that klaipeda will be main harbour in baltic sea and about demografic situation, i consider the tendentions that are in lithuania - in our country very much people live in village's and small cities and the young one's are movin to vilnius or klaipeda, so it's not just dreams of mine

most Lithuanians started like that in this forum so dont be too harsh about pablonis's bragging guys :D

well about main harbour, i overreacted, i ment that klaipeda will be in one of the leading one's, but in baltic country's i think it will be the biggest

about those 30 - 40 floor'ers, well that's good, i hope they will be built, but i'm so pesimistic about this project, because in the past (like maakri/lennuki corner, torn1 and torn 2, hotel viru annex....) and every of them were rejected

about vilnius, well i can say, that because of the scandal's wich were leading almoust all construction sites in vilnius ( almoust all old people's weren't to happy about scyscrapers, and i don't know why :D ) the city government is now doing everything quitly, so i'm sure that there is also 40 floor'ers proposed in vilnius

pablonis... the ones u mentioned, just viru annex was rejected.. others are still in the architectural board, and torn 1 and torn 2 should be uc next year if all goes well.

about that guy from estonia, he's so pesimistic about other cities, well ...... "as someone mencioned earlier, in the world there is only one city, and it's talinn - he's the biggest, strongest, smartest, fastest ...., oh yeah and also the real name of helsinki is talsinki and he's just a village nearby talinn", but the problem is that i almoust don't see any project coming from there :/


Well on other hand you are now saying same thing about Vilnius, btw look at Tallinn development they really have a lot of nice projects.

Just try to be more realistic, ok let's say today Vilnius have a lot of projects and a lot of U/C, but Riga and Tallinn also have a lot of U/C and projects, and who knows how it will be after one year or few years. My point is that we can't compare cities just by projects or just by buildings which are under construction now. What we really can compare is quality of life in cities, some cultural issues, foreign investmens... and so on.

Sometimes all those "skycraper" things seems quite funny to me. I know that this is skyscrapercity forum but still does the fact that some city has more skycrapers means that it is better (more important, more modern, etc., etc.)? Just look at Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Budapest, etc., etc. - they are much more internationally important, Scandinavian cities are much more modern, etc. than our Baltic capitals. So please don't overestimate that "skyscraper" stuff.

@pablonis: I doubt that there will be 40 floorers atleast in new city center of Vilnius (unless they will be residentials) because I think that those new restrictions (buildings not higher than ET) will be accepted.

well one thing i know for sure, that in maybe 10 years all three capitals will have a major skylines
Edd:
those restrictions can be changed very easily, when a new investor comes in (also as you know lithuanian buissnesman are realy clever and the government is also clever, but a bit corrupt and sometimes it's olny for good)

well one thing i know for sure, that in maybe 10 years all three capitals will have a major skylines
Edd:
those restrictions can be changed very easily, when a new investor comes in :)
You are wrong, when/if those restrictions will applied there won't be higher buildings. I doubt that such things which are today will continue forever.

and sometimes the high doesn't mean anything, you can build whole bunch of 40 or 50 floor'ers which will look like boxe's, or you cal build lesser with high, but very beutiful, like saules akmens, helios or SBA towers

pablonis, i really like boxes...

@edd. ofcourse your right, but if skyscrapers was all what we cared of we never would have posted threads about other developments, a new tramway for example is much much more important then a scraper for me. Scrapers are just pretty to look at, while other things, like trams new infrastructure so on are important for other things aswell!

Sometimes all those "skycraper" things seems quite funny to me. I know that this is skyscrapercity forum but still does the fact that some city has more skycrapers means that it is better (more important, more modern, etc., etc.)? Just look at Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Budapest, etc., etc. - they are much more internationally important, Scandinavian cities are much more modern, etc. than our Baltic capitals. So please don't overestimate that "skyscraper" stuff.


Words of the day! :)

I see that at the end we are singing more or less the same song.
Regarding the last "leap" of highrise construction in Vilnius - with this construction boom Vilnius stepped in one league with Tallinn and Riga regarding highrises.

What we had back in year 2000?

Riga - 5 buildings over 20 floors, 1 over 100 meters
Tallinn - 3 buildings over 20 floors, 1 u/c
Vilnius - 1 building over 20 floors

And what we have in December 2004?

Riga - 6 buildings over 20 floors, 3 u/c, 2 completed over 100 meters, 8 over 20 floors approved
Tallinn - 6 buildings over 20 floors, 2 u/c, 1 completed over 100 meters, 1 approved
Vilnius - 5 buildings over 20 floors, 2 u/c, 1 completed over 100 meters, 2 approved

I am also not forgetting that Vilnius now has the highest highrise in Baltics and the only building over 30 floors. The buildings in Vilnius have been grouped as well contrary to Riga. But anyway - is it reason to say that Vilnius is far ahead of the other cities regarding highrises?

@Gatis: Don't forget that high-rises are from 12 floors - not from 20. It would be the same type of comparison if I took:
buildings higher than 30 floors:
Vilnius 1 building
Tallinn 0
Riga 0

cmon now, we cant do it at 12 floors, vilnius would own with its commies, how do we classify commies anyway? the 20+ floors is the best way!

cmon now, we cant do it at 12 floors, vilnius would own with its commies, how do we classify commies anyway? the 20+ floors is the best way!

I think 16+ would be the best, this way no old commies in Vilnius would be highrise ;)

cmon now, we cant do it at 12 floors, vilnius would own with its commies, how do we classify commies anyway? the 20+ floors is the best way!
Well, I guess 12 floorer+ was always a high-rise in this forum and at emporis.com . If you don't like commies we can set a date for completion.

I think 16+ would be the best, this way no old commies in Vilnius would be highrise ;)
There are old commies with 16 floors in Vilnius ;).

yep, tallinn has commies up to 16 floors :(

There are old commies with 16 floors in Vilnius ;).

By 16+ i meant everything higher than 16 floors ;) so let's say 17 floors :)

I think we should not invent our own numbers. We can compare high-rises which were built after for example 2000 year - this way we will avoid commies.

I think we should not invent our own numbers. We can compare high-rises which were built after for example 2000 year - this way we will avoid commies.

It's better to do with date something like 1995, because in 2000 Riga and Tallinn allready had some newly builded highrises ;)

Between 1995 and 2000 in Riga was not built anything high. In fact puclic protests prevented anything high between 1995 and 2003.

Edd, cmon, i want to see Union bank in the list, and i doubt we would like to exlcude our hotels, viru, latvija, so on

@Gatis: And why did you exactly chose 20 floors? Because it's the number when Riga will look better? ;) I suggested to use "official" numbers not some "made by me" numbers like in your case. ;)

Btw I answered to already edited post by Gatis.

And why did you exactly chose 20 floors? Because it's the number when Riga will look better? ;) I suggested to use "official" numbers not some "made by me" numbers like in your case. ;)

I didn't chose 20 floors. For my high-rise is from as i said 16+ (excluding commies). But i don't mind if we use 12+ :)

@Geex: You are not Gatis. ;)

Sorry, I changed the text.
20 floors is round number and 20 floors make the building look tall. While 12, 14, 16 floors just is "midrise" for emporis statistics. I just compare the number of high buildings in the city, I am not guilty if Vilnius looks not so fine in this comparison.

@Geex: You are not Gatis. ;)

It seems i even don't know how to read :crazy2: :weird:

@Gatis: And I'm not guilty that Riga looks not so fine in comparison of 12+ floorers.

And i'm not guilty at all... :angel: :colgate:

12+? Riga looks quite OK. But I find it funny to account all these commieblocks. Btw. some 5 - 10 in Riga have to be found yet.

@Gatis: As I said before, we can count new buildings and don't count commies at all.

i usually start jumping up and down when a building of 15+ floors is announced.
imo, the most easy way to compere is to check these out:
and dont forget to check the second page:
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?c941
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?c985
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?c891

unfortunatly rigas page isnt too complete :(

Btw, in terms of high-rises - skylines are the most important thing and Riga today is behind both Vilnius and Tallinn.

Edd, not true, there just havent been many all buildings included pics of Riga...
and in the most prominent vilnius skyline, u can only see: ET,EA, Municipality, lietuva, thats 4 buildings. Tallinn has Radisson, Viru, Maakri, Olümpia, Union and city plaza, thats 6. ofcourse, the general look is also important...

No, the most important thing is the highrises themselves, their size and architecture. Skyline is secondary, although good thing too.

@Ch1le: Well, atleast I think that modern skyline in Tallinn and Vilnius looks better than Riga today.

This is getting funny, for me the most important thing is skylines ofcourse they are made of buildings - so they are much more important than one separate building. This is my *personal* opinion. The view of skyline is much more important when you are in some city than understanding that somewhere in the city there are some highrises :).

ok, in the skyline, 4 in vilnius, 6 in tallinn...? total height: Tallinn 501m (in 2 years = 800) Vilnius = 380m

hello...

@ch1le: Count the high-rises.
Photo by John:
http://img97.exs.cx/img97/6601/IMG_6913.jpg

ok, wait a day and ill make a pic of tallinn...

Btw I think this is a bit stupid. You can make statistics whatever you want, where your city will be leading - photos and the feeling when you are in the cities shows something more.

Btw:

ok, in the skyline, 4 in vilnius, 6 in tallinn...? total height: Tallinn 501m (in 2 years = 800) Vilnius = 380m

hello...
:laugh:
I didn't understand what you were counting here. ;)

nvm :P

Minor correction: construction of the fifth nuclear reactor is already underway, sorta. They're preparing the foundation in the area.

Well well, it seems I missed quite a hot discussion here lately (I was moving to another apartment...) .

1. This thread is called Vilnius projects vs Riga projects, so Tallinn or Klaipeda or other places are not discussable here.
2. The idea of this thread was to see how many and what kind of projects both Riga and Vilnius have at the moment - all can be discussed - proposed, approved, u/c, completed, although completed wouldn't fit here really(correct me if I'm wrong somewhere).
3. There is nothing wrong about seeing how both cities(and other cities outside this thread) are dealing with development, I mean isn't it iteresting for you to have such a discussion or to participate in it? Only some unfortunately forget that in a discussion ONLY FACTS can be used, not overestimated yellow press news or rumours.
4. The situation at the moment in Riga and Vilnius regarding all more or less important projects (highrise or lowrise, apartment or office, factory or entertainment) is the following:
Riga is doing it better than Vilnius.

PLease respond if you think I'm talking bullshit and note why it is bullshit and add some FACTS to your opinion.

Sincerelly yours,

LatvianGG

THANK YOU.

Merry CHristmas and a happy new year;)

^^^ Small correction

Now Vilnius is consctructing more than Riga ;)

...ONLY FACTS can be used, not overestimated yellow press news or rumours...

...Riga is doing it better than Vilnius....

LOL! What a FACT!!! :lol:

I'll give you some more FACTS:
Vilnius is much more superior than Riga and even clouds can't help here. It is doing everything much better than Riga.

Oh, now I understood - the words written in bold are FACTS. :D

well I haven't been in Riga, but now I've moved to Vilnius from Klaipeda and I see there a lot of construction going on. the disccusion is pointless indeed, but I can say that NCC and BT definitely kicks Riga's and Tallinn's ass and it's a fact. You'll need a couple of years to beat it and during this period we gonna build something new that will kick ass again ;) at the moment Vilnius is the pioneer of the Baltic's and it's a fact.

BTW, the battle of Vilnius Riga and Tallinn has interupted a new player - Klaipeda. The third city of Lithuania with less than 200 000 pop. has U/C project that kicks Vilnius Riga's and Tallinn's ass and I suppose everybody will agree with it. So dear neighbours I suggest you to gear up yours rotations because the rivalry is getting toughen.

I can say that NCC and BT definitely kicks Riga's and Tallinn's ass and it's a fact. You'll need a couple of years to beat it and during this period we gonna build something new that will kick ass again ;) at the moment Vilnius is the pioneer of the Baltic's and it's a fact.


holy flaming balls of fire.
First off, you got the word Pioneer all wrong. Tallinn built its first scraper in 1999, i was in vilnius at that time, and Ncc was just a hamburger stand, so, tallinn is the pioneer and everyone here would agree with that, second off, BT is nothing - well, a couple of nice mid rises and one quite okay highrise, but its just 3 buildings, mby 4 in the future, there are 2 districts like that in tallinn with pretty much the same floor count. okay, its just totally pointless to argue with you... ill stick arguing with the guys i trust and respect here: John, edd, Mantaz and geex...

well I haven't been in Riga, but now I've moved to Vilnius from Klaipeda and I see there a lot of construction going on. the disccusion is pointless indeed, but I can say that NCC and BT definitely kicks Riga's and Tallinn's ass and it's a fact. You'll need a couple of years to beat it and during this period we gonna build something new that will kick ass again ;) at the moment Vilnius is the pioneer of the Baltic's and it's a fact.

BTW, the battle of Vilnius Riga and Tallinn has interupted a new player - Klaipeda. The third city of Lithuania with less than 200 000 pop. has U/C project that kicks Vilnius Riga's and Tallinn's ass and I suppose everybody will agree with it. So dear neighbours I suggest you to gear up yours rotations because the rivalry is getting toughen.

*flap-flap-flap-flap*

Hear that? It's the sound of the enormous wanking going on.

GUYS, Stop presenting opinions as facts. All of you. People here act like ASIMOV Mark IIs.

It's pathetic to argue over few high-rises like this. None of your cities is New York or even Denver in terms of the topic.

uuuhhh... don't you guys have anything better to do?

i can't help but laugh at this stupid bashing... it's quite pathetic (as toni already said). :)


cheers! bööö!

Mantaz we all know it's true... no need to deny the reality ;) Vilnius was doing it better (FACTS: many new office towers built, some nice apartments projects as well. You can see it it's skyline - very nice, so it is a fact)
But now everyone knows that in Riga are much more projects proposed, approved, u/c together. Only u/c projects - ok - maybe Vilnius has more, I'm not sure. And you need FACTS? You should read Riga development news tread I and II more often - all Gatis wrote was based on clear facts, most of the information from architects websites and Riga Municipality website. And if it was based on "I heard that...." , than he clearly mentioned it and kept certain facts apart from rumourous. But what I ment about facts was the story of 1 billion japp project - i never heard or saw anything which proves that it exists or existed. On the other hand, Gatis read that, and put a project of a pulp factory in his reply, adding a rendering of it.
Perhaps you lithuanian fellaz should take example of Gatis and make somethig like he does with Riga Development news thread. Then we can compare Riga and Vilnius better.
Now it's just "You suck, you don't know shit....NCC, BT, TT," All you can think of sometimes is just a new built building covered with glass that counts as something that RULES. LOL

Mantaz we all know it's true... no need to deny the reality ;) Vilnius was doing it better (FACTS: many new office towers built, some nice apartments projects as well. You can see it it's skyline - very nice, so it is a fact)
But now everyone knows that in Riga are much more projects proposed, approved, u/c together. Only u/c projects - ok - maybe Vilnius has more, I'm not sure. And you need FACTS? You should read Riga development news tread I and II more often - all Gatis wrote was based on clear facts, most of the information from architects websites and Riga Municipality website. And if it was based on "I heard that...." , than he clearly mentioned it and kept certain facts apart from rumourous. But what I ment about facts was the story of 1 billion japp project - i never heard or saw anything which proves that it exists or existed. On the other hand, Gatis read that, and put a project of a pulp factory in his reply, adding a rendering of it.
Perhaps you lithuanian fellaz should take example of Gatis and make somethig like he does with Riga Development news thread. Then we can compare Riga and Vilnius better.
Now it's just "You suck, you don't know shit....NCC, BT, TT," All you can think of sometimes is just a new built building covered with glass that counts as something that RULES. LOL
Es zinu kā Rīgā ir daudz projektu, bet es rūnaju par tagadni ;) Rīga bus vismodernāka pilsēta, bet tagad tā nav, Viļņa un Taļins ir :yes:

I read the development thread every time I visit my user cp and there's a reply in it, so I know the situation and it seems what I said before

And about our own development thread, there's one, but nobody updates it or does it very seldom. Personally me, I put news to miestai.net and its forum, although now there are just some projects waiting to be approved and only construction is going on, so no news ;)

Es zinu kā Rīgā ir daudz projektu, bet es rūnaju par tagadni ;) Rīga bus vismodernāka pilsēta, bet tagad tā nav, Viļņa un Taļins ir :yes:

I read the development thread every time I visit my user cp and there's a reply in it, so I know the situation and it seems what I said before

And about our own development thread, there's one, but nobody updates it or does it very seldom. Personally me, I put news to miestai.net and its forum, although now there are just some projects waiting to be approved and only construction is going on, so no news ;)

Well i was talking to some people and now everyday in Vilnius they approve from 4~6 projecfts, but most of them are commies and low-rise buildings and some reconstruction jobs in old city.

They think that new highrise projects will be started in 2005/Q2, as for current situation Riga maybe don't have more projects than Vilnius (or maybe do, we can't really count all projects in our cities), but i can say Riga have more interesting projects and more highrise projects than Vilnius.

Although I want Vilnius to be a clear leader in all fields in the Baltic states but when some serious discussions starts I try to be unbiased (but when bashing or some funny comparisons starts I reply in the same way ;)). So, I think that for now judging by Riga city development thread created by Gatis and what I know from Vilnius (me and other Lithuanians know much more than it's written on these forums) - Riga seems to have more projects and they are bigger than in Vilnius. But Vilnius has more U/C projects and also had more projects recently (I'm talking about U/C and recently finished high-rises). At this moment Vilnius looks better but if proposed, etc. projects in Riga will start to be realised - Vilnius will stay behind (ofcourse if we'll not get some more new projects for Vlnius).

To sum up: Vilnius looks better today in terms of new high-rises but the future seems better for Riga (but it is unclear yet ;)). Actually I think it is possible to compare only current situation - there is no time machines invented yet. :)

@ch1le: Well, BT can't be compared to NCC in terms of height and skyline but still it's my favourite cluster (atleast it'll be when BCC2 will be finished). BT is the biggest office cluster in Vilnius and if Baltic property trust will transform lowrise building with "Oracle" written on it to a high-rise there will be four high-rises in BT.

hey yes, BT looks nice, no doubt about it, but its nothing extraordinary, 12 storey office buildings can pop up anywhere...but you got to admit, it was stupid of him to say that BT owns tallinn. those two just cant be compared!

and please, do write about projects in vilnius in the project thread here, im eager to see what it has stalled for us... :cheers:
cheerts!

@ch1le: Ofcourse BT can't be compared to downtown of Tallinn. But still it's quite a big cluster of office space (by standarts of Baltics states ;)) and it is very very dense.

I don't have enough time for now so I will not make updates or will not post information about new projects in Vilnius.

If you or anyone else are interested, you can find more information in tinkle.miestai.net forum. Don't worry if you don't understand Lithuanian - you can look at pictures and also you can ask us in this forum if you'll find something interesting.
http://tinkle.miestai.net/viewforum.php?f=26 - projects which are U/C, updates.
http://tinkle.miestai.net/viewforum.php?f=3 - new projects (usually not many pictures :))

@LatvianGG - do not see me as an authority ;) I am making enough errors and wrong
things. I am not architect or developer.

In Riga in this year have been approved well over 1000 new construction projects as well. I do not know the latest statistics. We were mainly reconstructing until this summer, that's true. And well reconstructing. But this has changed.
Btw. I am a bit surprised that very few office building projects are seen in Riga. We have the least high-class office area now and there is not that much u/c. The same 20+ highrises - 3 are u/c and all are apartment buildings. 8 approved 20+ highrises - all are apartment highrises again.
This can mean only two things:
a) Riga and modern offices are and will remain two distant things because Latvians are sleeping and not thinking about development. Do you believe in this? Me not... Just look at GDP increase this year and the industry coming up.
b) in nearest future will come up interesting projects for offices as well.

I think that Riga has very good future, the flow of interesting projects will only increase over the next year.
And fully agree with @Edd - today Vilnius has more active construction than Riga. But not more advanced.

In this game no one would be final winner. Baltics would be hard competitors for very long time, I think. And this might be our luck - we are all similar and constantly comparing each other and quickly introducing the best what the neighbour does.

well i think that's not a huge news (maybe somebody already showed that), but in middle of the summer there were a plan created by vilnius mayor and his team, to start reconstructing old commieblocks and the surroundings around them (plant new trees, sidewalks, streets ....), i`ve seen some drawings and it realy lokes great (i tryed to find them but i couldn't, maybe someone else will find). Project wil, be started in the nearest future, starting with the oldest commieblock district (zirmunai, it's next to a snipiskes, where NCC is located). this whole project will cost very, very much (i say very much because the exact sum isn't counted yeat, but city oficials say that it will cost a huge amount of money), and should be finnished in the next 15 - 20 years.

http://www.vilnius.lt/new/vadovybe.php?open=4&id=2873
(srry for that lithuanian language, i didn't found it in english)

thats great news, commieblocks are ugly, and should be renovated, renovating commies is also very popular in Tallinn atm, but its not really renovation, just new heat installations, new paintjob... they look alot nicer!

The same as in Latvia ;) Overall program to reconstruct the commieblocks. Do not know about the gardens around though.

looks like a new huge trade center in vilnius (located near green hanner, in teritory moving from NCC, to WCC

srry i tryed to insert a drawings, but looks like i still dont know very well how to do everything in this forum :D
enter this link, and slide till the end, there are some drawings, looks nice
http://tinkle.miestai.net/viewtopic.php?t=635

Sorry, I didn't quite understand. Is the place moving out from NCC elsewhere?

srry i tryed to insert a drawings, but looks like i still dont know very well how to do everything in this forum :D
enter this link, and slide till the end, there are some drawings, looks nice
http://tinkle.miestai.net/viewtopic.php?t=635

You're talking about retail center Panorama ;) Check the "Projects in Vilnius" thread, there's something mentioned :)

@OL to Western Center

http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Projects/saltoniskes/salton5.jpg

yes, you heard it right, it's a place in the middle of the road from NCC to new district, witch will be called western city center, or something like that.
in those photos you can also see a huge two floor infrastructual project, witch is very important to vilnius and will be u/c very soon

Only Facts!

Completed 12+

Riga 170
Tallinn 78
Vilnius 186

All Buildings 12+

Riga 227
Tallinn 90
Vilnius 217

In future Riga the winner!!!! :banana: :banana: :banana: Jee-Haa :horse:
OK! I'm joking :rofl:

Yeah, commieblocks rule! ;)

Does anybody have some stats about construction of residential spaces in Vilnius and Riga? Which city is leading here? :)

^^^ Welcome back, John :) I think somebody posted info about it and Vilnius was still leading. For Riga was 2200 new apartments while 2900 smth in Vilnius

Oslo 7.287 UC in october this year :D

Riga, Vilnius... but Salaspils municipality at Riga has got 3500 private houses u/c and approved now ;) Now that is urban sprawl. They will die in traffic jam fumes one day... Highrise apartments are the future of conscious citizen!!!! :)
(But that Oslo figure looks very impressive... where did Norvegians live up to now?)

I'm starting to become a norgephobe. So be aware! :evil:

I found photo taken 2months ago. In this model I see more highrises than on above posted pict.... maybe it's just one of ideas of area development. Anyway, here it is:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/endriu10/Belekas/DSCN2929.jpg

:?

Thanks ANDRIAU, seems like 7 porposed/visionary highrises in that area :D

second one ish much better

But that Oslo figure looks very impressive... where did Norvegians live up to now?

And if you include the suburbs in Akershus, the figure is 11.000. But this statistic does not separate single attached houses from apartments, though most of them are apartments.
http://www.ssb.no/emner/10/09/byggeareal/tab-2004-12-17-04.html


The reason is years of neglect when it comes to building dwellings in Oslo. The population has increased steady since the middle of the 80'ies, but in the 90'ies and the beginning of 00's, almost nothing was built. As late as in 2002, there was only 401 dwellings under construction by the end of the year. By the end of 2003, there was 4.719. The reason was partly that the entrapeneurs was busy with huge projects like the olympics at Lillehammer, and the new airport Gardermoen.

This led to the astronomical housing-prices we have now. The planning-authorities have plans to build 40.000 dwellings in Oslo by 2015, and that will just keep the preasure in the housing-market at its current high level, given a low population estimate(wich won't happen).

@Mantaz: You have every reason to be. The invation from Norge has already begun, with Narvesen-kiosks and Statoil stations everywhere;)

IMHO you should take into account all the stuff what happens in cities that part of Vilnius and Riga metropolitan areas.

@ M
Thanks.