Union Investment acquires planned office building in Helsinki's Wood City district

Union Investment has acquired a planned timber office building from the well-known Finnish construction company SRV in Helsinki as part of forward funding. It is one of the first EU taxonomy-aligned projects in Finland. The purchase is being made for the institutional public real estate fund UniInstitutional European Real Estate. The purchase price is around 58 million euros.

“The Nordic countries are an essential part of our investment strategy, which is why we have consistently expanded our involvement in recent years. The project in the "Wood City" quarter meets the highest sustainability criteria and is located in an up-and-coming inner-city location in Helsinki. It is therefore a perfect addition to our Finnish portfolio,” says Martin Schellein, Head of Investment Management Europe at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH.

The projected office building is located in the “Wood City” district in Helsinki's Jätkäsaari submarket, which has been developed into an inner-city residential and office location since 2009. It should be fully developed by 2030 and then house the new cruise terminal, among other things. In addition, Helsinki's significant Ruoholahti office section is only 500 meters from the project location and, in addition to shopping opportunities, also offers a metro connection to the city center.

A seven-storey office building with a rental area of ​​6,036 m² and 30 parking spaces is expected to be completed by June 2024. LEED Platinum certification is planned. The building is already fully leased for ten years to the IT security company WithSecure, which will set up its headquarters here.

“The project is an excellent example of the project development portfolio that we are developing for investors: stable cash flow, a state-of-the-art head office building and an environmentally friendly construction that also minimizes the owner's carbon footprint during the ownership period. With this transaction, we are gaining one of Europe's leading real estate investment managers, Union Investment, as a new partner. Our goal is to further expand cooperation with our existing and our new investors, "Sotuomas Kokkila, Head of Transactions at SRV.