LIM boosts Helsinki market as Covid hinders total volumes
LaSalle Investment Management has paid €45.5 million for a landmark office building in the centre of Helsinki.
OP Life Assurance Company sold the building, Arkadiankatu 23, which is in central Helsinki close to Kamppi metro station and shopping centre. Built in 1932, the 10,800 sq m property has been renovated several times since.
The building is almost fully let according to Catella, which acted for OP Life Assurance. Anchor tenants include OP Financial Group, the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and ETLA Economic Research.
Record volume in first quarter
Nordics specialist Catella said that in the first half of 2020, total transaction volume in Finland was €3.4billion – compared to 2018’s €3.9 billion and 2019’s €3 billion. However, about €3 billion of H1 2020 occurred in the first quarter, itself an all-time high.
Foreign investors accounted for about 52% of the total.
Meanwhile, prime office yields in the Helsinki CBD have increased by 0.2 percentage points to their present 3.5%. Catella said that vacancy rates of office properties decreased by 0.3% during the spring although it says vacancy is expected to rise during the winter owing to the coronavirus crisis.
