Varma’s office building project planned for Central Pasila nudged forward in January 2022, when Varma won a design and land transfer competition organised by Senate Properties and the City of Helsinki. Varma’s competition proposal “Pasilan Keskitornialue” (“Pasila Central Tower Area”) was designed by JKMM Architects. The jury’s proposal for the winner of the competition will be addressed in the first half of the year by the decision-making bodies of Senate Properties and the City of Helsinki.
The entire property will comprise 43,000 square metres of office space and commercial premises. This will mean more than 3,000 office work stations as well as restaurant and other commercial premises which will be used by the building’s tenants and others in the nearby area.
“It is great that we will get to carry out this significant new commercial premises project in a central location and at a junction with good traffic connections in Pasila. In our proposal, we focussed particularly on the project’s feasibility, taking into account, among other things, the conditions for building a tower in a demanding city planning zone. We are thrilled to start working on the project in line with the competition proposal together with the City of Helsinki, Senate Properties and the property’s main tenant, Elisa,” says Varma’s Property Development Director, Sari Raunio.
The aim is to sign a provisional agreement on the land’s ownership and on the implementation of the overall project in accordance with the competition proposal in the course of February. The city plan is due to become final by 2024, after which the final real estate transaction will be concluded and construction in the area can begin. The property is expected to be completed in 2026.
Flexible future work spaces in an environmentally friendly building
More than half of the building’s 43,000 square metres of floor area has been reserved for the main tenant, telecommunications and ICT service company Elisa. Elisa has leased office space in Pasila from Varma since 2005.
“We are happy that we can continue the co-operation with our long-term tenant Elisa and develop flexible work spaces for the future, drawing on Elisa’s efforts to develop the work environment. In addition to Elisa’s business premises, approximately 20,000 square metres of premium office and commercial premises will be available for lease to meet the needs of even large companies,” says Raunio.
“We look forward to designing the new premises for our future work together with our employees,” says Elisa’s HR Director, Merja Ranta-aho.
In planning the office building, Varma’s environmental sustainability targets and circular economy guidelines for construction will be taken into account. The highest BREEAM environmental certification, i.e. the BREEAM Excellent rating, will be sought for the building. Varma’s goal is to achieve an entirely carbon-neutral real estate investment portfolio by 2035.
Varma is one of Finland’s largest real estate investors, with real estate assets worth approximately EUR 5.2 billion. Varma has some 80 commercial properties and roughly 4,200 rental apartments throughout Finland.
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Suvi Vesterinen
Investments, real estates