Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2019 | Page 37

arena” in Finland can rival the total enter-
tainment offering that the Tampere project
will eventually deliver. In addition, most
Finnish arenas do not have a very central
location, but at Tampere, you will be exactly
where all the action is.
“In a situation like that, it’s likely that
people want to stay longer, too.”
According to Kankare, SRV feels that
it is moving forward with a very like-minded
partner, because the City of Tampere is very
committed to the project – and has been,
actually, since early 2000s.
“Tampere has had the vision and the
will to persevere with this project – and
we’re looking forward to building some-
thing great together.”
Metro Continues West
Full Deck, Please!
Yet another kind of center is being built in
Finland’s second biggest city, Tampere. For
years, there have been plans to solidify the
city structure of Tampere by building a deck
above the railway tracks downtown. Bran-
dishing the name, Tampere Deck, east and
west Tampere will be joined together via a
new type of hybrid block – one that com-
bines housing, commercial pursuits and a
state-of-the-art sports/event arena.
Spearheaded by SRV and the City of
Tampere, the project features a hotel, res-
taurants and other entertainment premises.
According to the project schedule, the entire
project will be completed in 2023.
“Work is now underway and we’re
looking forward to bringing the total hybrid
package into the heart of Tampere,” Kankare
reports.
SRV is eager to boost the urban evolu-
tion in Tampere – also the largest inland city
in all of Scandinavia – and has been talking
with the City since summer 2016 to develop
this project onwards.
Arena Appeal
With a price tag of over EUR 500 million,
the project is a grand undertaking even for
a seasoned veteran such as SRV. For exam-
ple, the sports and event arena in question
will be the biggest in the land, with a capac-
ity of approximately 13,000 people.
Toni Kankare believes that “no other
of the community. It’s clearly something that
has been missing in Kerava,” he says, add-
ing that, for instance, the opening day saw
a “wave” of 19,000 patrons (not bad for a
community of 35,000 people).
The project also has residential
reach, as SRV is building 140 apartments
in ­connection to the shopping center. “70
of these are to be delivered in late Novem-
ber, and the rest by January 2019,” Kankare
says.
According to Kankare, going small,
local and grocery-led may well be the ticket
in the future as well. Looking at the pros-
pects of shopping centers in relation to the
size, he’s most worried about medium-size
centers.
“Compact, small shopping centers who
have a clear target group will be fine – and
so will the biggest shopping centers who are
attractive because of size alone. It’s the cent-
ers in the middle who may have to refocus
their concept and finetune their message.”
Going back to the Helsinki Metropolitan
Area, Kankare notes that the launch of the
western metro line to Espoo in November
2017 was a welcome boost – and that SRV
is very much involved in building along the
expansion line, as well. Reaching to Kiven-
lahti, even further west, the “bonus stretch”
offers plenty of opportunities for develop-
ment.
“We’re very visible in the development­
of, for example, Kaitaa, Espoonlahti and
Kivenlahti, looking to bring both residen­
tial and commercial units into these
communities,” Kankare says, adding that
especially Kivenlahti, as the end of the line and
a feeder traffic hub, holds special promise.
SRV is also active with regards to
the existing metro line in, for example, in
Espoo’s Niittykumpu. Linking residential
and commercial elements with transporta-
tion is very much in the cards there, too.
“Hybrid development gives us the
opportunity to create diverse city structure.
The most vibrant communities usually pos-
sess a solid mix of various functions, never
focusing on just one.” l
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