Invego has agreed to acquire Skonto Stadium at the end of last month and plans to redevelop the site as an urban district connecting historic Riga with Skanste, north of the city center.

The company plans to invest around €100 million to transform the area currently home to Skonto Hall and Stadium into a residential area over 12 years, connecting the Old Town, the city center, and new developments.

"Our vision is to bring the urban environment of the future here. While 15 years ago people wanted to live in their own homes behind fences, today the world's top residential districts or environments are places where there are apartment buildings above, but life happens at ground-floor level – cafes, restaurants, shops, hairdressers and kindergartens," said Invego board member Kristjan-Thor Vähi.

The company has worked in Riga for several years and now considers Latvia its home market. Invego has received several awards for its Latvian projects.

Vähi said, compared with Estonia, large construction projects can be carried out much faster in Latvia.

"In Riga, it took two years from purchasing the property for our large-scale Vitolsi Parks project, with 400 homes, to the start of construction. In Tallinn, that would be unthinkable. What has happened here over the past five years in the cityscape and in all the authorities we deal with, or at every other level – both politically and in business – shows us that something has been done right in Latvia over the past five years. Right now, we certainly feel that Latvia is moving in a very good direction," he said.

A new national stadium will also be built in the same area, on the site of the parliament's vehicle depot opposite Arena Riga.

Edgars Bergholcs, head of the Riga City Council's Urban Development Committee, said the area is Riga's historic center and a protected area, which means strict construction rules apply.

"At the same time, Skonto Stadium no longer meets the requirements of the urban environment that residents would like to see there. Access and car parking are difficult, and its status as part of the historic center is also unsuitable. This creates problems with people getting there, safety and everything else," he said.

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