CITYCON OYJ Press release 11 August 2016 at 11.30 hrs
The first phase of the extension of the Iso Omena shopping centre located in Matinkylä, in the Helsinki area, was opened today. The newly opened area contains 27,000 square metres of new gross leasable area (GLA). The opening of the second phase comprising an additional 13,000 square metres of GLA will be in April 2017.
Once the total extension project is completed in 2017, Iso Omena will have a GLA of over 100,000 square metres, offering premises for over 200 different shops, restaurants and service units. This will make Iso Omena one of the largest shopping centres in Finland. A total of approximately 60 new shops, restaurants and service units will be opened in the first phase with an additional 40 units opening in the second phase. Tenants have shown a strong interest in the premises of Iso Omena, 95 percent of the GLA in the first phase has already been leased.
The extension will significantly increase the offering of fashion, entertainment, restaurants and services available at Iso Omena. In the first phase, retail brands such as Superdry, BikBok, Brothers, Gina Tricot, Carlings, Björn Borg, Peak Performance and Efva Attling will open new stores. H&M will also open an extended 3,000 square metre store in the new part of the shopping centre.
One of the unique features of the new Iso Omena is the extensive restaurant concept M.E.E.T (meet, eat, enjoy, together) that is the first of its kind in Finland. M.E.E.T will be opened in two phases, now and in the spring 2017, and when completed it will include 40 different restaurants. The new restaurant world can be compared to the Helsinki City Centre when it comes to the diversity of the offering. New restaurants to be introduced in Iso Omena in the first phase include e.g. artisan pasta restaurant Makaronitehdas, Goodwin steak house, the Mexican style restaurant Eatos and viking restaurant Harald. The selection of cafés will also grow: additions include La Torrefazione, Choco lab, and the Choux Company.
The third floor of the shopping centre will house a service square for the City of Espoo, a novel concept for providing public services. The service square will be bringing a library, a health centre and other public services together into a single space of 6,000 square metres. The accessibility of the municipal and healthcare services will significantly improve for the residents in the area with the extended opening hours and increased traffic connections.
New additions for the second phase include a seven screen Finnkino cinema, Zara, and a large selection of different restaurants, as well as various shops and services targeted at families and children. Iso Omena’s current grocery stores Prisma and Citymarket, recently renovated in spring 2016, will be joined by grocery store Lidl, which will be opened on the same level.
“Iso Omena’s selection is unique in Finland. In addition to a strong fashion offering and other specialty shops, we have a diverse selection of restaurants, entertainment and both public and private services. The quality of architecture and building materials has been in focus in the shopping centre extension project. Iso Omena is about much more than just buying things: it offers the surrounding community a place for spending time and socialising,” explains Sanna Yliniemi, Commercial Director at Citycon.
The final station of the first phase of the western metro line and the feeder bus terminal will be located under Iso Omena. They will strengthen the role of Iso Omena as a significant traffic hub for all of southern Espoo with an expected 35,000 daily commuters. In addition to excellent public transport connections, Iso Omena will have 3,000 parking spaces.
The Iso Omena shopping centre has been awarded a LEED® Platinum certificate for its extension, the highest rating level within the environmental certification system.
Citycon takes over full ownership of Iso Omena
For the first phase of the Iso Omena extension, NCC Property Development acted as Citycon´s development partner with a 50 per cent stake of the total investment. In accordance with the agreement, Citycon purchased NCC Property Development’s share for approximately EUR 80 million. Citycon is now the sole owner of the Iso Omena shopping centre.
“Citycon’s strategy is to focus on owning and managing shopping centres in urban areas in growing cities. Iso Omena’s location is excellent: Matinkylä is an important public transportation hub with strong purchasing power in one of the fastest growing residential areas in Finland. Iso Omena meets all of Citycon’s investment criteria and is expected to provide strong growth also in the future,” says Nils Styf, Chief Investment Officer at Citycon.
Helsinki 11 August 2016
CITYCON OYJ
Additional information:
Nils Styf, Chief Investment Officer
Tel.: +46 733 506 039
nils.styf@citycon.com
Sanna Yliniemi, Commercial Director
Tel.: +358 41 456 3421
sanna.yliniemi@citycon.com
Citycon Oyj (Nasdaq Helsinki: CTY1S) is a leading owner, developer and manager of urban grocery-anchored shopping centres in the Nordic and Baltic regions, managing assets that total EUR 4.7 billion and with market capitalisation of close to EUR 2 billion. For more information about Citycon, please visit www.citycon.com
