Sponda Plc Press release 21 October 2016 at 09:00 a.m.
Forum shopping centre owned by Sponda named the Best Shopping Center in Finland
Forum shopping centre in the heart of the city of Helsinki was awarded the title The Best Finnish Shopping Center by the Nordic Council of Shopping Centers (NCSC). As the winner of the Finnish title, Forum will contend for the title of the Best Nordic Shopping Center in the spring 2017. Forum shopping centre is owned by property investment company Sponda Plc.
The jury's choice was based on the fact that the multi-year renovation of the shopping centre was successfully completed with a bold vision and innovativeness, as well as committing various parties by professional and pragmatic leadership style. Renewed Forum was described as a major player in its own field, which is not only economically profitable but also speaks to its target group. Forum shopping centre has nearly 14 million visitors each year Forum is one of Finland’s largest and busiest shopping centres, with nearly 14 million visitors a year. The shopping centre includes a total of about 140 shops with combined annual sales of approximately EUR 200 million.
“We are happy and proud of the fact that experts in our own field appreciated the changes made in Forum in recent years and named Forum the Best Shopping Center of the Year 2016,” says Lars Eklundh, Shopping Centre Manager at Forum.
The four cornerstones of one of the Finland's first shopping centres are fashion, sports and leisure, cafés and restaurants, as well as electronics and home appliances. Forum shopping centre’s largest shops include H&M, Gigantti and Stadium.
“The three-year renovation project in the 30-year-old shopping centre was completed in the autumn of 2015. The project was a success in every respect. Construction costs remained below the intended, sales and customer volumes increased and all the leasable premises in the shopping centre have been leased,” Eklundh continues.
In 2012–2015, Forum, which occupies an entire city block in the heart of Helsinki, underwent a major extension and renovation project worth over EUR 50 million. The project involved modernisation of the premises, improvements to energy efficiency and the addition of some 8,000 m2 of retail space.
In addition to Forum, Sponda owns five other shopping centres in Finland. The total leasable area in the shopping centres is approximately 197,500 m2 and they are located in the Helsinki, Tampere and Oulu regions.
Sponda Plc For further information: Lars Eklundh, Shopping Centre Manager, tel. +358 500 458 694
Sponda Plc is a property investment company specialising in commercial properties in the largest cities in Finland. Sponda’s business concept is to own, lease and develop retail and office properties and shopping centres to create operating environments that promote the business success of its clients. The fair value of Sponda’s investment properties is approximately EUR 3.7 billion and the leasable area is about 1.2 million m2.
