Old office buildings are being converted into residences and hospices

Construction boom and recession resulted in record number of empty office buildings in capital area

print this

Old office buildings, especially in Helsinki but also to some extent in neighbouring Espoo, are being transformed into residential buildings, nursing homes and hospices for the elderly, and even into hotels.
      The office building construction boom that has continued for years has provided Helsinki businesses with modern open-plan offices while leaving unoccupied a record number of old premises with separate smaller rooms.
      At the moment one in ten office premises in the capital area is vacant.
     
The recession and the subsequent downsizing programmes have also contributed to the development.
      The businesses with reduced personnel want smaller premises with good public transport connections.
      Experts therefore predict that by the turn of the year 2010/2011 a record number of more than 12 per cent of the available office space may be vacant.
     
The owners of the unpractical and old-fashioned premises are now desperately pondering what their vacant and unprofitable real estate assets could be used for.
      “In Central Helsinki, as well as in the Katajanokka, Töölö, and Lauttasaari districts, and even elsewhere in Western Helsinki it is possible to convert office space into residential units”, says Tapani Piri CEO of the Finnish arm of Jones Lang La Salle, a global commercial real estate management and investment services firm.
      “The location is good and at EUR 5,000 the average price per square metre in these city districts is high enough”, Piri reasons.
      In Piri’s view, the future of the office buildings from the 1960s and 1970s in certain out-of-the-way locations in Espoo and Vantaa is altogether more bleak.
      They will have no future even if converted.
      “They will stay put as they are, or maybe they will be demolished at some point”, Piri predicts.
     
The easiest cases are the central Helsinki stone buildings that were originally constructed for residential purposes and later transformed to serve as offices.
      Some of the stone buildings have also been converted into hotels and more are in the pipeline. In the near future work will start to transform the Albertinkatu 36 and Lönnrotinkatu 27 corner building into a hotel.
     
Former offices can also be transformed into hospices and nursing homes. A 1960s office structure on Kornetintie in the Pitäjänmäki district will be renovated.
      It will then host a rehabilitation home for disabled children with adjacent apartments. Plans have already been drawn to convert the neighbouring building into residences as well.
      Also in Espoo’s Kilonkallio district a 1980s office building will soon become a serviced residential building for the elderly.
     
One alternative for an empty office building is simply to tear it down.
      “Often renovating an old building is as costly as building a new one”, reasons property development manager Aarne Markkula from the insurance company Varma.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Amount of empty office space to reach record levels this year (20.2.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat