Fennia Life Insurance Company Ltd, which was a party to the letter of intent signed in December 2015, withdrew from the project, and therefore the final shares of ownership deviate from those specified in the letter of intent. YIT’s share in the joint venture will be 38.75% (letter of intent: 35%), Etera’s 38.75% (letter of intent: 35%), Onvest’s 15% and Fennia’s 7.5 % (letter of intent: 15%). The overall value of the shopping mall and the parking facility including the costs for design, plot and financing is approximately EUR 600 million. According to the currently signed agreement, one-half of the construction will be financed with capital investments from the owners, and the remainder will be financed with project credit. YIT will sign contract agreements on the construction of the project with real estate companies owned by the joint venture.
The goal is to close the deals during the second quarter of 2016. The closing is subject to securing the debt financing and obtaining valid building permits and all required decisions from authorities concerning the mall. Upon the closing, over EUR 500 million is expected to be added to the order backlog from the project.
 
“We have been observing the change of the Pasila railway yard from a box seat for several years. Etera joined the project as a leading investor, because we consider the new Pasila district and its core, the Mall of Tripla, to be an excellent investment in the future. Excellent transport connections and the residential construction that will be started soon are solid success factors for the new shopping mall,” says Timo Sotavalta , Head of Real Estate at Etera.
 
“We are proud to be involved in developing “the second city centre” of our capital city”, comments Hanna Ekdahl, General Counsel at Onvest Oy their Tripla-investment.
 
“After years of operating in the Pasila real estate market, we know the district’s unbeatable strengths as one of the most significant centres in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Mall of Tripla will be an essential retail and service hub for the numerous local operators, as well as the transport hub of the entire metropolitan area. Fennia is one of the four investors in this project. Our Group company Fennia Life Insurance withdrew its participation due to its investment allocation,” says Timo Rantala , Head of Real Estate Investments at Fennia Group.
 
 “There has been a pleasing amount of interest shown towards the Mall of Tripla premises. Over 30% of the commercial premises have already been leased, and our tenant base includes several major brands already at this stage, 3.5 years before the opening of the mall,” says Kari Kauniskangas , President and CEO of YIT.
 
Mall of Tripla will become the largest shopping centre in Finland in terms of the number of retail spaces. The leasable floor area is approximately 85,000 m² for a total of 250 tenants, and there will be parking space for 2,300 cars in the parking facility. Pasila will become the new heart of Helsinki and an even more important transportation hub that is expected to double its resident and job numbers by 2040.
 
The construction starts with YIT’s Tripla, which will include office space, apartments and a hotel in addition to the shopping mall and the parking facility. The construction project also covers the Pasila station and the adjacent public transport terminal. The City of Helsinki has planned the former railway yard to the north of Tripla for residential blocks, which will have apartments for 3,000 residents. The City of Helsinki is also going to launch a design competition on the high-rise area to the south of Tripla at the end of this year.