OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2013. Eesti Pank sold its property with two buildings in Kuressaare for 552,255 euros to Arensburg OU, which operates the Arensburg Hotel near to the central bank property.

“Continuing to use the Kuressaare property did not fit with the principles of an efficient organisation, as Eesti Pank only used the property rarely. I am sure that the new owners will make more active use of the Kuressaare property and so create more jobs in Saaremaa”, said Ardo Hansson, Governor of Eesti Pank.

He added that the management board was also planning to find a better solution for using the Maardu manor house than at present. The analysis that the board needs so as to be able to discuss this is already being carried out, but more time will be required before any definitive solution can be found.

This year the board weighed up the options for selling and for renting out the property in Kuressaare, but the interest in purchase that was seen at an open day held in May persuaded the bank to put the property up for sale. The auction started in June with a starting price for bids of 500,000 euros, and the only bidder was Arensburg OU.

The property at Lossi tanav 6, Kuressaare, is 1089 square metres, with buildings on 701 square metres. There are two buildings on the property with a total of 886.7 square metres of floorspace, 611.8 in the main building and 274.9 in the outbuilding. In the main building, 93.5 square metres have been rented out as office space under an open-ended contract. The property is intended for commercial purposes and lies within the heritage protection area.

Background:
The property in Kuressaare was once the building of the branch of Eesti Pank. Eesti Pank used the building from 1924 until it was nationalised by the Soviet authorities in 1940. It was returned to the bank in August 1998 as a building under planning restrictions for heritage reasons, and the bank then had it renovated, in order to preserve and restore all the historical architectural value of the building. Eesti Pank started using the building in August 1999.