EBRD Invests €30 Million in Sustainable Real Estate Projects Across Baltic and Eastern Europe

EBRD Invests €30 Million in Sustainable Real Estate Projects Across Baltic and Eastern Europe

(IN BRIEF) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is bolstering sustainable real estate initiatives in the Baltic states and central and eastern Europe with a €30 million investment in UAB Urban Hub Holding, a joint venture with UAB SBA Urban, a leading real estate developer in Lithuania. This investment aims to expand the Urban Hub concept, which offers sustainable retail, warehouse, and office spaces designed for small and medium enterprises. Projects developed through this partnership will adhere to high sustainability standards, promoting energy efficiency and decarbonization in the building sector. Additionally, SBA Urban commits to enhancing corporate climate governance with support from the EBRD, aligning business practices with sustainability goals. This collaboration underscores the EBRD’s commitment to fostering sustainable development and supporting small businesses across the region.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 27-Feb-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the development of innovative, sustainable real-estate projects in the Baltic states and central and eastern Europe.

The Bank is investing €30 million in UAB Urban Hub Holding, a limited liability company incorporated in Lithuania and a joint venture between the EBRD and UAB SBA Urban, the real-estate development and investment arm of Lithuanian SBA Group, a leading industrial and investment group in the Baltic states.

The Bank’s investment will enable SBA Urban to scale up its Urban Hub projects across the Baltic states and beyond. Urban Hub is a novel small business unit and last-mile logistics concept that offers retail, warehouse and office space designed to meet the highest standards of sustainability and operational efficiency.

All of the projects developed by the joint venture will be certified to BREEAM “very good” international standards or above, promoting the growth of sustainable and high-energy-performance buildings in the EBRD regions and supporting decarbonisation goals in the building sector.

As part of the investment, SBA Urban is also committing to higher standards of corporate climate governance. The Bank will help SBA Urban to develop a corporate sustainability strategy to improve its climate governance and disclosure on sustainability and climate change issues. The move will align SBA Urban’s business performance with industry best practice and relevant performance indicators on sustainability.

Vlaho Kojakovic, EBRD Director for Property and Tourism, said: “We are pleased to partner with SBA Urban to support the development of this innovative real-estate concept, which is particularly attractive to small and medium enterprises, the backbone of the regional economies. Our partnership will increase the availability of modern sustainable buildings in the economies where we operate and accelerate the decarbonisation of the real-estate sector.”

Giedrius Muliuolis, Chief Executive Officer of Urban Hub, said: “Our strategic partnership with the EBRD and its €30 million investment commitment testify to the unique concept of Urban Hub projects and lay a solid financial foundation for their expansion into other European markets. From the outset, we have placed a strong emphasis not only on the commercial viability of projects, but also on the sustainability and versatility of the buildings and well-being of their users and other stakeholders. We are already witnessing how such an approach creates clear value by attracting solid financing partners, tenants and other project partners. The partnership with the EBRD will allow for the timely delivery of current projects totalling almost 100,000 square metres of leasable space, as well as for our upcoming expansion into other European markets.”

UAB SBA Urban is a leading regional real-estate investor and developer with a successful track record of more than 15 years in developing commercial, industrial and residential real-estate projects. SBA Urban is fully owned by SBA Group.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in the Baltic states. To date, the Bank has invested €1.5 billion in 125 projects in Lithuania, €1.1 billion in 108 projects in Latvia and almost €935 million in 110 projects in Estonia. Promoting the development of capital markets and supporting digitalisation are two key priorities of the Bank’s work in the region.

Media Contact:

Tel: +44 207 338 7805
Email: Group-PressUnit@ebrd.com

SOURCE: EBRD