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The functions of commercial objects are changing rapidly, moreover, in a way that was previously difficult to predict. Building owners and managers need to think outside the box when looking for solutions to vacant spaces without giving up at the first failure.

The changes were evident earlier, it seemed logical that part of the premises of shopping centers (TC) will serve other purposes in the future, that they will have sports, medical centers, more leisure and entertainment facilities. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the range of services further expanded and diversified, for example, a co-working office “Workland” is being created at TC “Galleria Riga”, and a taste and event space “Burzma” was opened this year at TC “Galerija Centrs”.

When standard solutions don’t work

We could have foreseen such a change of functions. However, more often we have to think outside the box, the standard approach of how shopping centers could develop in the future, after Covid-19, can collapse in an instant. This happened, for example, when TC “Saga” decided to leave one of the large tenants – the garden center “Hortes”. It occupied nearly 5,000 square meters of space, and used a building that was essentially a large greenhouse. From the beginning to the end, the Colliers team could not believe this decision of “Hortes”, we assumed that the purpose of such a statement is probably to get better terms. However, when faced with the reality that the company is really leaving the Latvian market, we had to quickly think of a new solution, strategy.