The FlexStart 2 project has been revealed

After initiating the building of FlexStart, a universal rentable manufacturing space in 2017, finishing building it in 2018 and almost renting it out fully, the Klaipeda FEZ has now made the decision to invest further 4.5 million EUR into the FlexStart project and start building an even bigger successor of the initial manufacturing plant, FlexStart 2.

The thing that makes the FlexStart projects special is the ability for individual manufacturing, warehousing or retail clients to adapt the space to their needs in 1-2 months. This means that the client can start doing business less than 3 months after signing the contract with the Klaipeda FEZ.

Eimantas Kiudulas, the CEO of the Klaipeda FEZ, comments that when the FEZ invested more than 3.3 million EUR into the project a couple of years ago, the company did not have any contracts or letters of intent pre-signed. The decision to start the project was heavily influenced by a comprehensive analysis of the market, advice from international consultants, and discussions with pre-existing and upcoming potential investors.

“Throughout the last decade, the manufacturing and business environment has changed significantly: competition is up, the world markets are less and less predictable, the life cycles of both products and technologies have become shorter. For these reasons, we can see the trend of manufacturing projects becoming smaller and lighter, the idea needs to be tried out and realized faster and faster. Launch speed is becoming increasingly more important as a competitive advantage. As soon as we publicly announced the FlexStart project, we found a huge amount of interest, the FlexStart space was almost fully rented out before the building was even completed. It is natural that we consider the project successful and are making the decision to extend it with FlexStart 2 confidently,” says E. Kiudulas. According to the CEO, the companies, which rent space in the FlexStart building can enjoy all of the benefits special to the FEZ zones, including zero corporate tax for the first 10 years in operation and a preferential tariff for the following six years.

The Klaipeda FEZ invites potential renters to contact the company about the spaces in the FlexStart 2 building, while there is still the opportunity to not only pick the ideal space for them but also to adjust the plans to their need throughout the process of the building works, by making the floor load bigger, for example.

“The FlexStart project space has been designed after evaluating the most common needs from the clients doing business in the light or assembly industry sector, as well as logistics: the ceiling is expected to be up to 6.5m from the floor, there will be loading gates, ramps, all the necessary communications, access roads, the warehousing infrastructure, admin spaces, the ability to set up a leisure space for the employees. The FlexStart 2 project will also suit retail companies because the need building has been designed with shop windows on the first floor, which will allow companies to sell their products with a warehouse nearby.

FlexStart 2 is expected to have 8,500 square meters in total area, meaning it will be a thousand square meters biggest than its predecessor. The Klaipeda FEZ also expects to offer twice smaller minimum rentable spaces, the smallest plot a client could rent will be 450 square meters in size.

FlexStart is also a solution for the clients who are looking for temporary manufacturing space. You can launch quickly at FlexStart while building a much biggest manufacturing plant of your own somewhere else. A great example of this concept in action is Vejo projektai, the company responsible for the Lithuanian electric buses Dancer. The company launched at the FlexStart space while their bigger factory is being built in a Klaipeda FEZ plot nearby.

“At the moment, most industrial companies are leaning down their usual processes and starting to use more and more necessary parts, which were not made within their manufacturing chain. All of this makes you rethink process organization, so more space in the market opens up for small and medium-sized business to act as partners to the big manufacturers. There is also the trend that has been there for a while now of companies growing not when the big companies swallow smaller ones but when the faster companies acquire the slower ones. The FlexStart project, which is unique to Lithuania, is exceptional at guaranteeing the speed and ability to flexibly react to the changes in the market,” says Mindaugas Kulbokas, the Head of Research and Analysis at Newsec Baltics, a real estate consulting company.

Technical specifications of the FlexStart 2:

• Total area: 8,500 sq.m.
• Minimum rentable area: 450 sq.m.
• Ceiling height at the lowest point: up to 6.5m
• Communications: electric installations, heating, conditioning, surface water and sewage systems, internet, access roads, parking and open-air warehousing lots.
• Access: gates and ramps
• Address: Pramones st. 29, Klaipeda

Best for:

• Light industry
• Assembly industry
• Retail
• Warehousing

What can be adapted to individual needs?

Office and employee space:

Total area, the floor plan, the finish level

Manufacturing and warehouse space:

Internal engineering systems, electric installation, venting, air extraction, water and sewage systems, compressed air systems, manufacturing workspaces and technology areas, floor loads.

FlexStart clients:

• Etman (Norway)
• Baltijos Eucutekas (Germany)
• Vejo projektai (Lithuania-Germany)