Keilaniemen Portti, a commercial property located in Espoo and which will be owned by Varma, has achieved full occupancy. The decision to invest in the property was made in June and construction started up immediately.
“We are delighted that we found such reliable partners as our tenants and were able to launch the construction project in a challenging market situation. Keilaniemen Portti proved very interesting to companies and in the end, there were more interested parties than we could offer premises to.” says Varma’s Asset Manager Jenni Nivalainen.
Keilaniemen Portti stands out from other commercial properties being built in the area. Its key attractions are the building’s unique architecture and flexible and effective interior solutions, which meet the users’ most challenging needs. Keilaniemen Portti is 47 metres high and timber cladding will be fixed to the building’s framework. The main interior design element will be timber and an actual living tree will be located in the lobby for the pleasure of visitors and people working in the building.
Soupster is a new tenant
Office users of Keilaniemen Portti are Metsä Group and CSC – IT Center for Science. The restaurant Soupster leased the kitchen and café premises of the property and will offer high-quality lunches, catering and café services to the building’s tenants and other people working in and visiting the area.
“We have the opportunity to design the spaces and services together with our partners. A high-quality restaurant supports work well-being and is one of the features attracting people to work at the office. It is important for a restaurant to be able to offer catering services that meet the high standard required by customers,” explains Jenni Nivalainen from Varma.
“We are delighted to be able to build the property’s restaurant offering. The property itself is unique. Varma is a property owner that aligns with our values and who values long-term partnerships and develops operations with a focus on quality and reliability. We will offer tenants and restaurant clientele Soupster’s most popular lunch restaurant Dylan, as well as various seasonal solutions and customer-based services from lunch to catering and evening events,” says Kim Heiniö, CEO and Founder of Soupster Family.
Sustainability aspects and transport connections as attractions
Sustainability aspects have been extensively incorporated into the design of Keilaniemen Portti. The building will be energy efficient in terms of energy consumption and solar panels and a green roof will be installed on the building’s roof. In addition to a BREEAM Excellent environmental certificate, Well certification, which improves well-being in workspaces, will be sought for Keilaniemen Portti, guaranteeing that, for example, the technical characteristics, acoustics and air quality of the premises meet a high standard.
Good traffic connections are also a key attraction. The building will be located at a traffic hub near the Jokeri Light Rail terminus and the Keilaniemi metro station, next to Ring Road I and the Länsiväylä highway. Good traffic connections increase the use of public transport, thus reducing the emissions from commutes.
The property was designed to offer a good employee experience and employees will have access to not only staff facilities, but also a spa, which includes a gym, sauna, steam sauna and cold plunge pool. The excellent locker rooms and 400 bike parking spots located in the building and in the courtyard ensure that bike commuters have their needs met.
Keilaniemi is establishing its status as one of Finland’s most sought-after locations
Espoo’s Keilaniemi has become one of Finland’s most sought-after office hubs, favoured by, for example, several listed companies as a location for their head offices. The near vicinity of Aalto University in Otaniemi bolsters interaction between companies and students and creates opportunities for collaboration with universities and recruiting the best experts in the future.
In addition to Keilaniemen Portti, Varma has other new properties under construction: office premises and a hotel in Katajanokka, Katajanokan Laituri, and a tower block project that will be launched in Pasila in the spring. The new property in Pasila will be located centrally immediately next to Pasila train station and will offer modern premises in Helsinki’s fastest growing area. The anchor tenant for the Pasila property is Elisa, whose premises will be built on the new property.
Varma is one of Finland’s largest real estate investors, with real estate assets worth approximately EUR 5.7 billion. The lettable premises include hotel properties, business premises, commercial centre premises and over 4,500 rental apartments.