Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2016 | Página 16

Tripla Rising YIT is seeking to re-energise Central Pasila with unprecedented retail reach If you’re in real estate business, you know this much to be true: A great location is a terrible thing to waste. With this in mind, the construction company YIT took a good look at Central Pasila in Helsinki and saw the tremendous upside inherent in the neighbourhood. I n connectivity, the area is second to none: It is in the heart of the most densely populated region in Finland, at the intersection of every imaginable mode of transportation from trains to trams to cars to bikes. In the vicinity, there is a sports arena, fair centre, national media cluster… but what has been missing is a true commercial anchor. All of this is about to change. The emerging Tripla Centre will link both East and West Pasila, fully upgrading the area for 14 Nordicum the future. Encompassing three city blocks, the total area of the Centre will be 183,000 floor square meters. Targeting 2019 To get things going, YIT is building the Mall of Tripla, a next-generation shopping centre. Scheduled for grand opening in the Christmas season 2019, the Mall of Tripla will become the largest shopping centre in Fin- land in terms of the number of retail spaces. The leasable floor area is over 85,000 square metres for a total of 250 tenants. Tapio Salo, YIT Senior Vice President charged with the development of Tripla, says that the Mall of Tripla will bring something quite unprecedented into the picture. “Our vision is not to launch only a shopping centre, but something that is part of the whole community and fully integrated into the urban structure. This means