Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2012 | Page 22

Winning Ways
HYY Real Estate focuses on user
experience – with spectacular results
The World Design Capital 2012 has been
launched – and downtown Helsinki is very
much involved in the making of the special year.
One of the key players in the core city centre
is HYY Real Estate – the real estate arm of the
University of Helsinki Student Union.

A

nd how is it that students have managed to build a real estate empire in
the most valuable part of the town (let
alone country)? For the answer, we have to
look at history: the key pieces of the puzzle have been in place for 100 years – and
more. The legendary Vanha Ylioppilastalo
(Old Student House) was raised already in
1870, and Uusi Ylioppilastalo (New Student
House) followed suite in 1910. At the time,
Finland was still under Russian rule, but the
coming independence would launch the students of the young nation to a new age of
prosperity.
While the city around both student
houses kept growing, also the Student Union expanded its reach and acquired more
real estate. All the while, Uusi and Vanha
have remained in the core of downtown –
the very heart of downtown is often defined
as the triangle limited by the Main Railway
Station in the north, Stockmann in the east
and Kamppi Center in the west.

Pedestrian Preference
There are, for example, more restaurants in
the area than anywhere else in the land. In
addition, there are several metro entrances
in the vicinity that bring a steady flow of
20 Nordicum

people here. According to pedestrian monitoring studies, there are over 40,000 daily pedestrians in Kaivopiha area (230,000
people/week).
Yrjö Herva, Business Director for
the HYY Real Estate, says that Kaivopiha
and the Student Houses have a permanent
place in the hearts of the Finns. “Looking
at Kaivopiha, the idea from the beginning
was to make it human-scale – and the fact
that people have embraced it so thoroughly means that the approach has been a successful one.”
Herva adds that Kaivopiha also shows
an intriguing mix of architecture and trends
from different eras, creating an environment
which is far more than simply the sum of
its parts.
Still, taking care of these real estate assets requires considerable commitment and
eye for detail. For instance, Kaivopiha street
surface will go under renovation in March
and during the year the area will receive a
real beauty treatment, complete with heated walkways.

Always Room for Imagination
While a renovation during the WDC2012
festivities sounds tricky, HYY Real Estate

has experience in carrying out such retooling efforts with style: for instance, during
the Ylioppilasaukio renovation a few years
ago the area was transformed into a visually pleasing “French Quarter”. The goal is to
introduce another slice of fantasy into the
new renovation project.
“We’re also cautious not to overcrowd
the area, so that people flow can continue
undisturbed,” Herva promises.
In the background of the renovations,
there is HYY Real Estate’s desire to take
its responsibility very seriously – the culturally invaluable neig¸hbourhood is managed according to the principles of sustainable development. For instance, the organisation has had the student houses in its possession for generations and wants to make sure
that they will be there in the future as well.
“In all situations, we want to contribute to the development of a dynamic cityscape – make sure that the core downtown
area is enjoyable for all,” says Herva, adding that HYY Real Estate is also a member of the Helsinki City Marketing which
is hatching plants to spice up local marketing efforts. Among the goals there is the idea
to create some action in the spring time – at
present, Christmas seems to grab all the attention (and resources).