Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2020 | Page 46

Introducing: Soft City
City of Turku and Senate Properties are developing new
Pihlajaniemi district with focus on softer values and better quality
The first capital of Finland, Turku, is on the verge of exciting new development as Finnish military relinquished – in part
– its hold of the Pihlajaniemi area. Featuring 30 hectares, the new area consists of fields and some buildings, meeting the
sea in the south. For the City of Turku, the area is a real gem, since it’s located just a couple of kilometers from the city
center, and could, conceivably, be a home for thousands and thousands of residents in the decades to come.
S
enate Properties – known as the real
estate asset manager of the Finnish
Government – is the owner of the
Pihlajaniemi area and working in close
cooperation with the City of Turku to get
the ball rolling. Otto Virenius, Real Estate
Development Manager for Senate, calls the
planning of the new district a “diverse and
demanding” undertaking, since the neigh-
borhood-to-be needs to be properly inte-
grated into existing city structure. Further-
more, the needs of the military must be taken
into consideration in the future, too, since
the Heikkilä garrison will continue its oper-
ation.
“We are confident that through collab-
oration we can create a modern, urban com-
munity that is attractive and exciting from
the point of view of the residents,” says Vire-
nius who has been working with the pro-
ject since its true kick-off in January 2019.
“The general land use plan for the area
has been approved. The first zoning plan
draft will be composed of the northern part
of the area,” Virenius says, pointing out that
Pihlajaniemi is so large that development is
undertaken in phases.
Total Package Available
According to Senate, Pihlajaniemi is really
something to get excited about: the great
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location within the Turku city structure,
abundant nature and access to the shoreline
offer great prerequisites to build something
truly special here. The planning phase will
also take into account the climate targets
of the city, with an objective to, for exam-
ple, promote sustainable transportation in
the district.
The next step for the project features a
competition for the prospective developers
next year. Virenius believes that the area is
highly attractive from real estate develop-
ment companies’ perspective.
“Furthermore, the area is so big that
several developers can work side by side
on this,” he adds.
After planning is done and zoning con-
firmed, the construction of infrastructure
could kick off in 2021, if everything goes
well. “Under this preliminary timetable, res-
idential construction could start in 2022 and
first residents could move in in 2023,” Vire-
nius sketches the tentative timeline.
Open the Gates!
Päivi Siponen, city planning architect for
Turku, says that since Pihlajaniemi has been
closed from the general public for so long,
there is a lot of interest towards the area.
“Now that the area opens up for devel-
opment, we want to make it human scale and
something that the local residents can really
appreciate and enjoy,” she says.
To make sure that everybody’s voice
was heard, there was citizen survey in Jan-
uary-March 2019 which asked for people’s
opinions about the best way to utilize the area.
“There were 1,700 responses made by
people which is quite extraordinary,” Otto
Virenius describes the high level of inter-
est. “Clearly people appreciate the fact that
they can come forward with their sugges-
tions and that those ideas can be used in the
actual planning effort.”
Playbook for Success
Shifting through the citizen feedback, a plan
for action started to take shape: the north part
of the area – closest to the city center – is
where the services should be and the shore-
line should be reserved for public recreation.
“There are no plans for privatizing the
shoreline,” confirms Virenius. “The shore-
line is to feature, instead, a boat harbor,
swimming places and cafés, for instance.”
According to the plans, the area is to
feature a Promenade – running from Market
Square (in the north) to Harbor Plaza (in the
south). On the west side of the Promenade,
there will be a lengthy park, which will uti-
lize stormwater to create a nice stream for
the community.