Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2019 | Page 31

as virtual and augmented reality to create
unique environments.
Nevertheless, even the most mind-
blowing experience hubs need great connec-
tivity. Johanna Aho points out that a central
location with good connections goes a long
way in today’s shopping center business.
“You need a place that is easily accessi-
ble to great volumes of people – that’s becom-
ing even more important, especially in the
Helsinki Metropolitan Area,” she says, mak-
ing a reference to the barometer findings.
Both Redi and Tripla, for example, enjoy
superb connections and are likely to attract
plenty of curious patrons for that reason alone.
Eastern Promises: Itis
The “old” shopping center market is not
stagnant, either. It was announced in Octo-
ber 2018 that Itis, Finland’s largest shopping
center located in East Helsinki, is changing
ownership. Dutch property investor Wereld-
have sold Itis to a fund advised by Morgan
Stanley Real Estate Investing for EUR 516
million, making the transaction the largest
single asset transaction in Finland ever.
The first part of the center was built
in 1984, and it has been extended and rede-
veloped several times. Wereldhave acquired
the shopping center in 2002 from Sponda for
EUR 317 million. At that time, the transac-
tion was one of the first major acquisitions
of the foreign investor in Finland.
With this transaction, Wereldhave
now exits the Finnish property market, cit-
ing desire to realize its strategic agenda by
focusing on “convenience centers”. Accord-
ing to Wereldhave strategy, this means zero-
ing in on shopping centers that “strike a bal-
ance between convenience and shopping
experience”. l
Sami J. Anteroinen
Nordicum 31