Newsec advised on the sale of centrally located hotel in Vilnius
Newsec in the Baltics advised Valmeda AB on the sale of the three-star Ecotel hotel in Vilnius to Baltic Asset Management for nearly EUR 5 million. The buyer plans to transform the hotel into a co-living facility.
The Ecotel has 166 rooms as well as 2 meeting rooms and a conference hall on a 0.4 ha land plot. It is in the Piromontas neighbourhood of the Lithuanian capital just beside the central business district and in walking distance of the Old Town. The location offers excellent access to the city’s major attractions and residential areas by private and public transport. Stable flows of people and great accessibility make the building’s environs desirable for both commercial and residential developments, of which there have been several in recent years.
“Interest in acquiring the property was remarkably high. We expected some interested, but not as much as there turned out to be. About 10 competitive bids were received for the hotel. The whole sales process was completed in a three-month period, with two bidding rounds held to determine the most motivated bidder,” says Andrius Svolka, Head of Transactions at Newsec in the Baltics.
New opportunities in the residential-for-rent segment (co-living, service apartments and student housing projects) are attracting the interest of both local and international investors. Given the popularity of such facilities in other European countries, some investors believe they are set to gain momentum in Vilnius as well. As such, demand is growing for centrally located properties in major cities of Lithuania that are well suited for redevelopment.