Pasila is at the very core of Helsinki’s new push for growth. While the de facto functional centre of Helsinki keeps expanding to the north, Pasila is already the heart of New Helsinki. In the coming years, the six areas within Pasila are expected to add more than 600,000 floor square metres in new office & commercial space.
Pasila – Opportunities in the Power District
From a real estate perspective, the railway tracks have been the separating force in Pasila, pushing east and west apart. Now, situation is being rectified as the railway functions have been reorganised in Pasila. This mean that a lot of space has become available for development.
The coming decade will see the building of close to half a million square metres of new office and commercial space in Central Pasila alone. This undertaking, coupled with concurrent development in the larger Pasila area, will double the District’s jobs to 50,000 by 2040.
Throughout all this, Pasila will deploy a mixed-use concept which combines commercial, office and residential assets in a new way. The concept revolves around outstanding connectivity, with also a remarkable degree of walkability.
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Tripla Leads the Charge
The anchor of the Pasila redevelopment is Tripla Centre which will be completed by 2020. Opening in autumn 2019, Mall of Tripla will be Finland’s largest shopping centre measured by the number of stores. With 250 stores, a public transportation hub, and a total floor area of 115,000 square metres, the mall is the first part of the Tripla project to open its doors to the public.
All and all, Tripla is a three-block urban centre with 50,000 square metres of office space, a 430-room hotel, and over 400 apartments for a thousand residents, in addition to the shopping centre. With a total cost of approximately EUR 1 billion, Tripla Centre is a key construction project in Finland right now.
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Tripla by YIT
Committed Land Owners
With the wave of new development, Pasila will become a real Power District both nationally and internationally. New traffic plans and construction activity will simply transform the area – ensuring that Pasila is fully upgraded for the future.
The two land owners, the State of Finland and the City of Helsinki, have the same goal: help Central Pasila achieve its full potential. Realised in phases, Central Pasila will take shape gradually, targeting the best possible outcome. The “heavy lifting”, so to speak – creating the crucial infrastructure to the tune of € 200 million – has already been taken care of.
Vertical Dreams
Pasila holds unprecedented opportunities also in the field of high-rise construction. The Helsinki High-rise Competition was finalized in autumn 2018. YIT’s proposal Trigoni was put forward as the winner of the international Pasila Tower Area architecture and implementation competition.
The Helsinki High-rise competition, organized by the Finnish Government organization Senate Properties and the City of Helsinki, sought a high-quality design to form the basis of the city plan for the Pasila Tower Area, as well as an implementer for the so-called Start-Up Area, where the construction of the Tower Area is planned to begin in 2020–2021.
The winning proposal Trigoni comprises nine tower buildings to be built on the south side of Pasila Bridge. Two of the towers, comprising 51 and 40 storeys respectively, are to be located in the Start-Up Area. The Start-Up Area has a permitted building volume of approximately 67,000 floor square metres, encompassing commercial premises, office spaces and homes. The value of the Start-Up Area will be approximately 500 million euros. The entire Tower Area consists of 150,000 to 200,000 floor square metres, including residential, commercial and office premises.
The implementation contract on first phase of Trigoni project was signed in February 2019 between the City of Helsinki, Senate Properties and YIT.
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The winning proposal Trigoni of the Helsinki High-rise Competition.
Push for Prime
From the investor’s viewpoint, it is noteworthy that in the prime and secondary office areas and buildings in the Helsinki rental market demonstrate markedly different performance. The best premises in prime areas continue to attract tenants for relatively high rents, whereas in the secondary areas, vacancy rates remain high and rents continue to decrease.
Pasila redevelopment is leading the way in all of this, paving the way for modern, green and efficient real estate. For example, highest level LEED or BREAAM certificates are required for new construction.
Invest in Ilmala
Ilmala is the smaller of the two stations in the Pasila District, but for companies, it holds a lot of promise, as well. In fact, 1/3 of Pasila’s new jobs and over 1/2 of new residents are located in the vicinity of Ilmala station.
Located just a seven-minute train ride north from downtown Helsinki (and 28-minute train ride from the Airport), Ilmala has been attracting a lot of companies lately. The Ilmala district is expected to add as many as 10,000 new jobs in the coming years, as the corporate influx continues.
Already known as the key media hub in the country – with the nation’s biggest media players YLE and MTV in attendance – the neighborhood has recently become home for such companies as Hartela, Danske Bank, Vattenfall and Sweco. New offices are being built especially near the Ilmala railway station.
Pasila by the Numbers
Pasila by 2040:
- 50,000 jobs, over 30,000 residents
- Amount of jobs doubled and amount of residents tripled from early 2000’s
- New building rights: 0,7 million floor square meters offices and commercial space, 1,2 million floor square meters housing
- Most accessible place in Finland: Two railway stations, Pasila and Ilmala, both with airport connections
- Pasila Station – public transportation hub with 50 million annual passengers in 2020’s
- One third of new jobs and over half of new residents located in vicinity of Ilmala station
Investments:
- 5 billion euro private and public investments, over 2 billion euro investments already ongoing
- City’s investments total 500 million euros, by 2021 260 million euros
- State investment in Central Pasila alone 100 MEUR
- Residents 30 000
- Jobs 50 000
Connections:
- By 2025, Pasila Traffic Hub will accommodate 850 buses, 900 trains, 400 trams and 130,000 passengers every day. In connection to the Pasila Railway Station, there will be a mass transport terminal with stops for buses and trams.
- Bus: 20 min from City Centre
- Tram: 30 min from City Centre
- Train: 5 min from City Centre (Pasila and Ilmala)
- 20 km from Helsinki International Airport
Premises
- 3 200 000 m²
Milestones
- Mall of Tripla
- New Pasila station
- New Pasila Bridge
- New rail access
- New Veturitie and Teollisuuskatu streets 2019
- Finland’s first EU approved carbon neutral public building 2017
Highlights
- Pasila Fair Centre
- Tripla Centre
- Hartwall Arena
- Yle
- International/national corporate headquarters
- key traffic hub in the nation
Updated 13.2.2019