HS Helsinki | A buyer is again being sought for the Meilahti manor, and this time the conditions for the operation have been specified: “It’s a sensitive area”

Helsinki the city is again trying to get the former Meilahti manor property it owns for sale. The city aims to have the mansion’s buildings for sale in the first week of October, the real estate development manager Ilkka Aaltonen The industry of Helsinki’s urban environment tells.

“The second round will start now in October, when the first round of applications did not bring results,” says Aaltonen.

From October 2017, Helsinki applied for a buyer and a developer of services for the Meilahti manor area and its three buildings through the application procedure. However, the city’s attempt to find a buyer failed in February 2018, and the houses are still standing empty.

Read more: Helsinki’s elite used to hold such extravagant and lavish parties in this manor that modern people can’t fathom it – Now the 200-year-old milieu is dilapidated abandoned in Meilahti

Applicants were required to provide a reference and business plan, as well as an explanation of the applicant’s requirements to implement the project. They were expected to have previous experience in similar projects, an explanation of their technical know-how and the financial prerequisites for implementing their plan.

These the conditions are more or less unchanged in the future search as well. A new draft of the site plan is now attached, where the boundary conditions are more precisely defined than before. In this way, the applicants get a clearer picture right from the start, for example, of the number of floor squares and permitted heights of additional construction.

There are three buildings in the area. The manor’s old wooden main building, the brick-built and plastered so-called Dance Hall and the former exhibition building of the Helsinki City Museum. The latter can be demolished and a new one built in its place.

According to Aaltonen, there have been inquiries about the property along the way. He mentions a cafe entrepreneur and the idea of ​​a spa as examples. Officially, the city will only be able to compare proposals when the open call starts in October.

The property of three buildings is too large for a cafe operation alone. On the other hand, for example, the hotel project that was involved in the previous round of applications failed when the city did not accept the new building presented by the developer as being too high.

In Aaltonen’s opinion, there are strong grounds for strict boundary conditions.

“It is a sensitive area with significant historical and cultural values. A center for events or a party space could be suitable for that.”

In Meilahten the manor area located in the western part of the villa area is being developed as an active area for cultural and recreational activities. The protected buildings of the manor area, the remains of the gardens and the natural environment form a valuable environmental entity, says the description of the project, which will be open for applications in October.

“The manor park and the popular beach route will remain in public use. A new use is sought for the protected buildings. The empty city art museum is also located in the area, and it is possible to present a new construction in its place. The protected buildings of the manor area, the remains of the gardens and the natural environment form a valuable environmental entity,” the brochure of the previous open call stated.

“The manor park and the popular beach route will remain in public use.”

The last sentence could also be read as meaning that the buildings of the property will not necessarily be spaces open to city dwellers in the future.