Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2016 | Page 23

Get Connected in Pasila
And then, last but never least, Pasila. Pasila
is already the reigning traffic hub in the
nation: all the trains stop here and trams
and buses very much congregate in the area.
Located 3.5 kilometres from the downtown,
Pasila is truly a force to be reckoned with.
The logistical reach is second to no
one: the brand new Ring Rail Line (launched
in July 2015) connects Pasila to the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, and the
upcoming City Rail Loop, once completed,
will link up Pasila, downtown Helsinki,
Hakaniemi and Töölö in a more effective
manner. There is even a reservation for a
future metro station.
Pasila is also known for national conventions, state agencies, corporate headquarters, a powerful media cluster and the
biggest sports arena in the land. There are
already 25,000 jobs and over 12,000 inhabitants here – and plans for much, much more.

As Big As They Come
The coming decade will see the building
of close to half a million square metres of
new office and commercial space in Central
Pasila. To put that fully in perspective: The
Central Pasila development is twice the
size of new One World Trade Center in
New York. This undertaking, coupled with
concurrent development in the larger Pasila
area, will double the district’s jobs to 50,000
by 2040.
Niina Puumalainen, Project Director
for the City, says that the new traffic plans

and construction activity will simply transform the area – ensuring that Pasila is fully
upgraded for the future.
“The City is committed to turning Central Pasila into a new kind of urban centre
for business, service and housing. Rooted
in superb connectivity, Pasila will become
a real blueprint for the future’s superhub,”
she says.

Tripla Under Way
The “Ground Zero” for all of this will be
a next-gen traffic/commercial hub – called
Tripla Centre – which will be built in the
railway yard area freed up in the Central
Pasila area. Building rights of approximately
190,000 floor square metres will be zoned
in the area, and the total value of the project
is approximately EUR 1 billion.
Just north off the Tripla Centre, there
will be a residential component, too, as the
emerging Railyard Quarters will add 3,000
residents and 1,000 jobs into the equation.
Totalling 170,000 floor square metres, this
compact neighbourhood will also have its
share of tall buildings (5–16 storeys).
In accordance to the strategy formulated by the State and the City, Railyard
Quarters will be developed sustainably, with
an over-all guiding vision of a Garden City.
For example, greenroofing is the standard
here and rain water is utilised where applicable.

Aiming High
The zoning for Railyard Quarters is to be

completed in 2016, with construction kickoff to follow in 2018. In addition to ambitious residential solutions, there will also be
plenty of business here, as about 25 % of
the area is reserved for office and commercial construction.
“We’re very pleased to introduce a
new community that will combine residential with business in a highly attractive package,” Puumalainen says.
Number three on the list in Pasila is the
creation of the Pasila Tower Area. There are
plans for as many as ten towers in the area,
with plenty of office, commercial and residential space. The idea is to kick-off tower
construction from the west – next-door to
Tripla – thus maximising synergies.

Design-Build Competition
To realise this vision, the State and the
City are seeking a developer for the Pasila
tower area via an international design-build
competition in 2016. The area in quvestion
could comprise 150,000–200,000 m² of floor
area.
“We feel that Pasila is a great place
for high-rise construction, giving a signature look to the area,” says Puumalainen.
The upcoming Helsinki High-rise
competition is a design-build competition,
in which the party submitting the highest
quality plan solution will have the right and
obligation to procure the building rights for
the start-up area specified in the competition – as well as develop and construct the
start-up area (40,000–65,000 square metres).

Pasila is a key area
in the development
of Helsinki and
Finland.
Nordicum 21