It’s been another busy month here at Bulkestate with lots of new developments – and so we wanted to share those with you. We specifically want to welcome all the new investors this month and can’t wait to walk this journey with you.
We’re quite thrilled to have launched our Autumn Cashback Campaign which will give new investors a chance to earn an additional 1% cashback on any new investments up to December 10th. This is all leading up to our 5-year birthday celebration coming up on December 12th, so keep an eye out for our birthday campaign and some other exciting announcements on where the company is going from there.
Raņķa Dambis
The project at Raņķa Dambis has seen a number of changes since our last update. The most visible progress is on the façade which has been prepared by mounting the scaffolding and construction net. We’ve partnered up with Fasāde Pro, a leading renovation company in Latvia, and the workers have already begun to work on the improvements. We’re expecting that the façade will be completed by the summer of 2022.
It’s worth noting that we had to go through significant preparations during the façade design project. We were very proud to have an architect designer (Dita Lapina) from the LDU Research and Architecture Design Bureau (KROKS) on the project team who was hard at work on the exterior design, interior, and layout of the apartments, as well as the ventilation and electricity system for the entire building.
Currently, the architect is working on the design of the new wooden windows which will closely emulate the previous windows and incorporate some of the aesthetic touches that are going into the rest of the building. The windows themselves are going to be produced by Mežmaļi a company with over 20 years of experience in manufacturing wooden windows and doors. We’re waiting for final estimations of the costs before officially placing the order.
To maximize efficiency, we’ve also begun working on the building’s surroundings and landscape while we wait for the other components. Landshape has agreed to put together visualizations for the property which entail the improvement of the courtyard with additional lighting and greenery. We’ve worked with them on Zeļļu Street development project and Amālijas Street, where they’ve proved to be reliable and professional partners.
As you might imagine, the construction timeline here is complex and multi-layered, so we anticipate that we’ll use all available working capacity to ensure a smooth and effective renovation. The next step is to come to an agreement on the final apartment layout before we start working on the heating and sewage system, the electricity grid, and other internal components. All of these structural changes are required because the building has not been renovated or improved upon for a long period of time. We need to increase the power capacity, while also matching the sewage system to the new layout. We’re also going to look into a heating system to see if the current capacity is sufficient to power the whole building.
Amālijas Iela
Stage 5 of the financing for this particular project was completed during October and things are moving forward as planned, however, due to the changes in the initial plan, the repayment schedule for stage 3 has also changed – as it was for the first two stages of the project. At the moment, the loan terms for Amālijas Street and Amālijas Street – 2nd Stage have both been extended for a year until 26 March 2022 and 21 August 2022 respectively. The additional term has the same interest rate, but we are determined to repay the loan as soon as possible even if it is well before the set term.
Many investors have expressed interest in receiving updates about the process on the construction site and so we hope to continue with these monthly blog posts to keep you in the loop. We also want to remind you that the new COVID-19 restrictions in Latvia have delayed the planned sales of the apartments, but 8 of them have already been reserved on the back of high interest from potential buyers. The loan stages will be repaid as soon as the funds have started to come in from the purchase deals.
Krāsotāju Street (Offline Object)
We have a new offline property development project in Krāsotāju Street which looks very promising. The footprint is around 3,000m2 and that spans 90 different apartments. The property is in good condition already and so will only require limited renovation works which include improvements on the buildings themselves, repairing the staircase, gas heating, and landscaping. We estimate that this will take around 12 months and are hoping to realize this project in 2022.
The selling price is extremely competitive when compared to similar offers in the market and the building complex is situated on a very quiet street next to park Ziedoņdārzs which should prove fruitful for potential buyers. The excellent location and the vast expanse of surrounding infrastructure make the complex a very promising residential investment.
Please note that this is an offline object and as such, it is not open to investment from Bulkestate investors. We are only sharing this here to give you a peek into what else we’re working on as a company – as we seek to find the best investment opportunities that we can.
Summary
All in all, October has been a busy month and even though there are still a number of challenges emanating from the pandemic, we’re starting to see some development in the several delays that occurred since the start of the pandemic mode. As mentioned earlier, we’re coming up on 5 years in business and this will mark a new era for Bulkestate and the rest of the group. We’re looking forward to taking things to the next level and continuing to democratize some of Europe’s most exciting property deals for investors like you.
Thank you for your support and patience throughout the difficult times and we hope that you’ll continue to engage with us as we work to build the sorts of real estate projects that we can all be proud of.