The Kulosaari shopping centre company has applied for an amendment to the detailed plan for the shopping centre area. Planning is now about to start. The starting point of the application is the demolition of the existing shopping centre and the construction of new apartments and brick-and-mortar business premises. The possible demolition of the shopping centre and the securing of local commercial services will be resolved in connection with the preparation of the detailed plan. The city’s primary goal in the plan is to ensure that key commercial services remain in Kulosaari.
Come and discuss in Kulosaari on 5 November
The city will organise an open presentation and discussion session regarding the planning of the Kulosaari shopping centre plot on 5 November at 17.30–19.30 at Kulosaari primary school. At the event, the city will present its objectives for the planning, and a representative of the shopping centre company will share the company’s objectives and present the completed reports. There will also be time for discussion. Welcome!
The participation and assessment plan will be available on the city’s website as of 28 October. The plan describes the objectives of the land use planning and the decision-making process. The background studies are also available online. Feedback on the planning objectives and background material can be submitted to the City Registry until 15 November 2024.
The future of the shopping centre has been under debate for a decade
The Kulosaari shopping centre was designed by Architect Erkki Karvinen. It is a representative example of a shopping centre building from the early 1960s. According to the reports, the building is valuable from a cultural-historical and architectural point of view.
Kulosaaren Ostoskeskus Oy owns both the plot and the building. Some of the retail premises have been empty for some time. The building has been maintained with partial repairs, but its current condition requires more extensive renovation.
The shopping centre company applied for an amendment to the plot’s detailed plan already in 2015. A principle that would preserve the shopping centre building partially was presented to the Urban Planning Committee in 2016. The committee returned the principle to planning to have the shopping centre building completely demolished and replaced with apartment buildings and brick-and-mortar business premises. A new plan proposal prepared on this basis was approved by the committee in 2017 and the City Council in 2018.
The decision of the City Council was appealed to the Helsinki Administrative Court. The Administrative Court overturned the City Council’s decision because the planning material did not contain sufficient explanations of the building’s history, condition and reparability or a commercial outlook.
The shopping centre company has reapplied for an amendment to the detailed plan so that both apartments and commercial premises can be built in the shopping centre area. The company has commissioned the necessary reports as a basis for the plan amendment.
Decisions expected in approximately one year
The detailed planning of the area will proceed so that the proposed detailed plan will be discussed by the Urban Environment Committee in the autumn of 2025. The final decision on the detailed plan is made by the City Council.
