EXPO Real: Helaba increases Helsinki office loan to €128m

At this year’s EXPO Real, Helaba bank and investment firm Altaal closed a deal to acquire an office building with financing of €40 million. This transaction brings the total loan amount provided by Helaba to Altaal and its brown-to-green platform, Colony, to €128 million spanning four buildings. Today, Colony is 100% environmentally certified with tier-1 tenants throughout the entire portfolio.

The additional building, called ‘Pilot’ (pictured above) is located approx. 500 metres from the terminal of Helsinki Airport. Pilot boasts a leasable area of almost 19,000 sq m over seven floors along with close to 1,300 parking spaces. It offers floors of around 3,000 sq m as well as a number of amenities, including an intercompany restaurant, an auditorium, meeting rooms, a gym and a rooftop sauna. As a dark green property, it holds LEED Platinum and EPC grade A certifications.

Helsinki Airport is Finland’s primary international gateway and part of Aviapolis, the second-largest business hub in Finland hosting over 41,000 workplaces and more than 600 international companies. “As one of the best and most ideally situated properties in the Aviapolis conurbation,” says the press release, “Pilot benefits from excellent public transport connections with a 30-minute link to Helsinki’s CBD by train, while access by car is provided by ring road III and highway 45. In addition, the City Council has taken a decision to develop a light railway station adjacent to the Pilot entrance, which is planned to be finished in 2028.”

Lars Hegg, Head of Real Estate Finance Nordics at Helaba, commented: “ At Helaba, we are delighted to further strengthen and expand our customer relationship with Altaal. Through its office strategy Colony, Altaal focuses on green and brown-to-green strategies, which is a perfect fit with Helaba’s focus on green financing.”

Altaal is a Nordic investment firm for alternatives operating through private market plat-forms built on knowledge and societal changes. The firm focuses on real assets with inflation-hedged income coupled with positive ESG impact potential.

Stefan Gattberg, Co-founder at Altaal and chairman of Colony, added: “The strong partnership we have developed with Helaba as a long-term financing partner is very important to us. Helsinki as a market continues to show fundamental strength in terms of political prudence, landlord stability and rent affordability.”