Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2016 | Page 26

Stay on Tracks
SRV is looking to score big along the metroline

Solidifying the urban structure is one way to build a more sustainable metropolis. In the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, this
has been largely achieved by building effective rail transport and launching new communities along the tracks. The two
key projects in the metropolitan area are Ring Rail Line and West Metro. The Ring Rail Line – launched in July 2015
– reaches from downtown Helsinki all the way to the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport; West Metro will extend the
current ‘Helsinki-only’ metro service to Espoo in August 2016.

T

he real estate developer SRV has been
very active in pursuing rail-related
opportunities in the region. Jouko Pöyhönen, Project Development Director for
SRV, comments that participating in projects which solidify the city structure is a
strategic choice for the company.
“In addition to bringing down the carbon footprint, the more compact structure
improves people’s quality of life, as services
become readily available,” he says.

Mix It Up
Partly for this reason, SRV is also a firm
believer in mixed-use:
“Bringing both residential and commercial development into an area will usually give the best result. We look for the
right balance in all of our projects,” Pöyhönen says.
Sometimes achieving that balance is
a real juggling act. Nowhere is this more
24 Nordicum

apparent than in Helsinki’s Kalasatama
where SRV is taking a brownfield scenario
– a former harbour area – and turning into
a beautiful seaside neighbourhood, with a
first-class shopping centre and impressive
high-rise construction.
Connectivity here is outstanding: thanks
to its very own metro station, the community
is mere minutes away from downtown Helsinki. All and all, Kalasatama is SRV’s biggest development project to date – and the
company is determined to make it great.

Rewrite the Future
Markus Laine, Director, Real Estate Transactions and Investors for SRV, believes that
Kalasatama is a real game-changer in the
way we look at our urban communities.
“Kalasatama is giving us a taste of
what life will be like in the future,” Laine
says. SRV signed the agreement on the
development of Kalasatama already in 2011

and has been working steadily to push the
venture forward. Today, there are already
almost 3,000 residents in the neighbourhood – but the goal is set at 20,000 people by 2025.
Kalasatama will feature also a state-ofthe-art health and wellbeing centre, built by
SRV and sold to a special fund managed by
Deka Immobilien in August 2015. The centre is expected to be finished in late 2017.
“This deal is one example of the powerful appeal of Kalasatama,” Laine comments.

Ready for REDI
The anchor for Kalasatama, however, will
be the shopping centre REDI which will be
the focal point for local community, business
and services. Featuring over 60,000 square
metres of retail space, REDI promises to be
almost double the size of the shopping centre
Kamppi, another SRV success story.