Hagen Quarters – Neighborhood

Only bricks have been preserved from the historic buildings, which are promised to be used in the new project. The buildings and structures on the territory were rebuilt many times during the 19th and 20th centuries, and its large-scale redevelopment in the 21st century seems to continue this logical line.

History of the Territory

The territory has a rich history. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries there were only small sand dunes on the bank of the Mariinsky-Melnychny Pond. The water often eroded the shore and several small islands were formed here, which appeared and disappeared.

Anton Christoph Sauer then built his estate here, which he called “Robinson’s Island”: in addition to two dwelling houses, there were outbuildings and a small mill. Some of the premises were rented out as holiday homes for the townspeople. After Sauer’s death in 1822 the estate changed owners, and already in 1836 a cloth factory appeared here. By 1845 the then owner of the land Georg Friedrich Tank decided to use a part of the territory for breeding therapeutic leeches—and broke up several special ponds, but by 1860 the company went bankrupt, the territory was bought by the Golm family and there was no need for leech ponds.

By the early 1900s, several factory buildings appeared on the bank of the Mariinsky Mill Pond: workshops, spinning mills, dye houses, boiler house, warehouses and administrative buildings. The factory employed from 350 (in 1900) to 200 people (in 1918).

In the 1930s and 1940s the company went bankrupt, and in 1941 the administrative buildings were occupied by a Luftwaffe unit, the workshops were turned into repair shops where prisoners of the Riga ghetto were forced to work, and some of the premises were transformed into barracks. In 1944, many of the buildings were bombed during the Allied operation.

In 1947, the Aurora hosiery factory, which was established on the basis of small-scale production facilities, started operating in the surviving buildings of the now Soviet Riga. Over half a century, the territory was gradually restored and modernised. The production did not stop working even after the Soviet occupation: it was transformed into the factory “Aurora Baltica” and in the early 2000s moved to Daugavpils. The factory buildings were empty and decayed for a long time.

New Housing. Layouts and Amenities

Transforming factory buildings with a complex history into lofts was not an easy task—many of the structures were too worn out: the developer, who in 2006 was designing housing on the territory, decided to demolish most of the buildings.

It is claimed that 51,000 historic bricks have been carefully preserved and from which they will try to rebuild some of the historic factory facades.

In 2020, work on the area was started by the Estonian development company Kaamos. The apartment blocks along Cieceres ielu contain a total of 300 flats with floor areas ranging from 51 to 117 m².

The laconic flats are delivered ready to be finished. Four concepts have been developed for the interiors. The basic one is dominated by wood and light colours—it is supposed to be suitable for the widest range of residents. Three alternative stylistic solutions use light sandy tones (which are called “Baltic Beige”), grey (“Nordic Grey”) or warm shades of cinnamon (“Oriental”).

Infrastructure

The main advantages of Hagen Quarters are its close proximity to the Maras pond (which is where many of the windows will have views), the 11 hectare park adjacent to the pond and the dynamic neighbourhood of Agenskalns.

The historic environment around the pond allows you to relax by the water, take a walk or watch the seasons change without leaving the city.

Prices

The flats have not yet appeared in the open sale. Their starting price is expected to be from 3,400 euros per square metre.

Project Team

The developer of the project is the Estonian company Kaamos. Hagen Quarters is to be the company’s first realised project in Latvia.