At the beginning of the year, Real Estate Development and Construction Group of Companies Eika and partners Etapas Group in Kaunas initiated the first new generation communal housing concept in Lithuania which will open its door in September. The first such project of student home Solo Society will accommodate Lithuanian and foreign students coming to Kaunas for studies.
The changing consumer attitude drives the changes in the real estate market
In February, an administrative complex was purchased in the center of Kaunas city at Kęstučio str. 36 which was reconstructed to provide the students with accommodation services. Here a modern housing for students has been arranged. The changing consumer attitude to real estate results from the need to change other market participants and their products. “Real estate becomes a service, a part of the sharing economy, and a space needed for a particular function, and it should not necessarily belong to its user,” says Domas Dargis, Managing Director of EIKA.
At the first stage, 150 rooms will be arranged in the complex which will be settled by Lithuanian and foreign students this autumn, and the reconstruction of the whole complex should be completed in 2019. Then students will be offered 90 rooms more for rent.
Solo Society is the combination of a community and private life
The first project for communal housing offered by Eika and Etapas Group is student home Solo Society. “This project will focus on a very targeted group – students but we do not exclude the possibility that in the near future in other cities of the country and beyond, other projects of community life Solo Society may appear and offer the living space to everyone”, reveals the potential future plans Domas Dargis, Managing Director of EIKA. Students usually choose between a dormitory and a flat rental but in the first case privacy is lost and the second one makes one miss communality. The student home Solo Society wishes to offer the solution that unites both ideas – living together with the community while maintaining one’s privacy. Plenty of common facilities for leisure and study, such as leisure and quiet areas for studying, a library, spacious kitchens, and a gym will be arranged in the complex, while privacy will be ensured by comfortable rooms of various sizes with mini kitchens and sanitary units.
With a little more than a month before the opening – 80% occupied
Solo Society will not only offer a roof over one’s head but will seek to provide full comfort to its residents, such as high-speed Internet in rooms and wireless Internet in common areas, care and cleaning of common areas and rooms, a self-service laundry, inner parking, a private yard, and a terrace overlooking the panorama of Kaunas city. Seminars, creative workshops, cooking classes and other community-based initiatives will diversify a social life. A great deal of attention will be paid to the security of the residents. Only the residents of the building will be able to enter it and video surveillance and recording cameras will be installed in common areas.
Solo Society has started communication with universities, student representations, colleges and other educational institutions in Kaunas. 80% of student home Solo Society is already occupied. Students from Sweden, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and Lithuania will make their housing here in September. The total investment in the project will amount to €7,4 million.