Lippulaiva, one of the most extensive grocery retail clusters in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, opens on Thursday, 31 March, 2022

Lippulaiva, one of the most extensive grocery retail clusters in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, opens on Thursday, 31 March, 2022

(PRESS RELEASE) ESPOO, 30-Mar-2022 — /EuropaWire/ — Citycon, a leading owner, developer and manager of multipurpose urban centres, has announced that Lippulaiva, one of the most extensive grocery retail clusters in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, will open on Thursday, 31 March, 2022 in Espoonlahti near Helsinki. Lippulaiva, the new mixed-use centre representing the future of convenient urban living,  will be the first stop in the community for local services and an important strategic milestone in the implementation of Citycon’s mixed-use development plans.

The services for the residents of the Espoonlahti area will be greatly improved when Lippulaiva opens its doors on Thursday, 31 March. Lippulaiva will be a thriving urban centre for local services in its rapidly growing catchment area and boasts approximately 100 different shops, cafés and restaurants as well as private and public services.

Lippulaiva houses one of the most extensive grocery retail clusters in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, covering all of Finland’s largest operators Prisma, K-Supermarket and Lidl. Grocery stores account for approximately 45 per cent of Lippulaiva’s 44,000 square metres of gross leasable area. In addition, Lippulaiva is also home to more than 20 cafés and restaurants and will create a culinary experience in the community with both domestic operators and international chains.

Lippulaiva will also offer a wide selection of services and functions, such as the Espoonlahti regional library of almost 2,900 square meters, English-language daycare centre Pilke Playschool, fitness centre Elixia and Terveystalo’s medical centre, which is one of the largest private health care providers in Finland.

“Lippulaiva is a unique urban hub for the community, housing a wide range of services and functions, in addition to convenient shopping, making it easy for customers to satisfy all of their daily needs in one visit. Operationally, we are very pleased with the occupancy rate of over 90% for retail space and are thrilled with the demand for the restaurant premises from a wide variety of food and beverage operators”, says Mari Laaksonen, Commercial Director at Citycon.

Citycon’s strategy in action

Lippulaiva will also serve as a new transportation hub, as the Espoonlahti metro station and bus terminal are connected to the centre. There is direct escalator and lift access to Lippulaiva from Espoonlahti metro station and bus terminal. With this critical transportation infrastructure in place, Lippulaiva is estimated to attract about eight million customers annually.

Complementing the retail experience there will be a total of eight residential buildings with 560 new apartments and condominiums built in and around Lippulaiva. Citycon is constructing four residential towers of 4–14 storeys and 275 apartments at the north-western end of Lippulaiva above the bus terminal. The first residential tower will be completed at the end of this year with  the remaining three in early 2023. Construction of the two remaining residential buildings has not yet begun.

Notably, Lippulaiva marks the first time that Citycon has carried out its own rental housing production. The building rights for two of the residential towers have been sold to construction company Hausia.

“Lippulaiva is a prime example of our necessity-based, mixed-use strategy in action and an important milestone in realising the potential of our robust development pipeline of urban hubs that combine a diverse range of services, retail, housing and office premises with well-functioning traffic connections,” says Erik Lennhammar, Chief Development and Investment Officer at Citycon.

Lippulaiva has been designed with the future in mind and is a carbon-neutral building benefitting from many sustainable energy solutions. The most extensive geoenergy solution for any European commercial building has been constructed under Lippulaiva, and the centre’s electricity consumption is optimised with smart control. Lippulaiva will be subject to an environmental assessment in accordance with LEED and Smart Building certification systems.

For further information, please contact:

Erik Lennhammar, Chief Development Officer
Telephone +46 70 344 5013
erik.lennhammar@citycon.com

Mari Laaksonen, Commercial Director
Telephone +358 20 766 4434
mari.laaksonen@citycon.com

Sakari Järvelä, VP, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations

Telephone +358 50 387 8180

sakari.jarvela@citycon.com

Citycon is a leading owner, manager and developer of mixed-use real estate featuring modern, necessity-based retail with residential, office and municipal service spaces that enhance the communities in which they operate. Citycon is committed to sustainable property management in the Nordic region with assets that total approximately EUR 4.5 billion. Our centres are located in urban hubs in the heart of vibrant communities with direct connections to public transport and anchored by grocery, healthcare and other services that cater to the  everyday needs of customers.

Citycon has investment-grade credit ratings from Moody’s (Baa3), Fitch (BBB-) and Standard & Poor’s (BBB-). Citycon’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.

www.citycon.com

SOURCE: CITYCON OYJ