Halls of giants|The Helsinki City Council approved the Garden Helsinki project land deals. The decision was preceded by a long discussion about the possibilities of the project.
Back to Töölö The plot deals for the planned giant hall were blessed at the meeting of the Helsinki City Council on Wednesday.
The price of the 2.5-hectare plot required by the planned Garden Helsinki arena along Nordenskiöldinkatu was defined as at least 21 million euros. The final selling price may be higher than this.
It is a pre-contract that is intended to serve as a basis for the actual real estate transaction. It becomes relevant when the project has the necessary funding, official permits and a binding contract.
Council the mayor at the meeting Juhana Vartiainen (kok) appealed to the commissioners several times in favor of approving the deals.
Vartiainen called Garden Helsinki an “eternity project”. The project has been planned since 2010.
Deputy mayor for culture and leisure Paavo Arhinmäki (left) submitted two counter-proposals to the motion.
In the first counter-proposal, Arhinmäki required that the sale be confirmed with an EU notification, which assesses whether the re-evaluated, lower price of the plot is comparable to state aid.
In 2019, the city estimates that it will receive up to 85 million euros from the land sale. At that time, however, the content and calculation method of the agreement was very different.
Mayor Vartiainen estimates that this procedure will delay the project even more. Arhinmäki’s counter-proposal did not get enough support in the council.
Its instead, Arhinmäki’s second counter-proposal was accepted in the vote. Arhinmäki proposed that a clause be added to the decision proposal, in which negotiations with the project’s parties would be held regarding the disclosure of the project’s ownership structure and financing model before the final sale is made.
Now the deals are made with the background company of the project, Project GH. The total costs of the project are around 800 million euros.
The documents related to the financing of the project are not public for the time being. Accredited Pentti Arajärvi (sd) described the funding as “a mess” at the moment.
in Helsinki there is currently a crying shortage of larger event venues.
Other event centers are planned, but Garden Helsinki will also have to wait for years.
At the same time, the Helsinki Hall, formerly known as the Hartwall Arena, stands empty in Ilmala. Due to Russian sanctions, the stores of the hall, which has been banned for two years, have been searched throughout the spring, but so far without success.
If realized, Garden Helsinki would be an arena for up to 19,000 spectators. In addition to that, the property would have a hotel, office space, restaurants and a parking garage.
#Halls #giants #Helsinki #arena #project #progressed #council #funding #raised #concerns
