Bonnier and Varma sign lease agreement for Lönnrotinkatu 18

“We were looking for premises that meet the changing needs of modern publishing operations and working life. The good location and the personal interaction that the convertible spaces allow are what drew us to Lönnrotinkatu,” says Bonnier Books Finland’s CEO, Timo Julkunen.

The functionalist building, which was completed in 1939, was renovated from top to bottom.

“Lönnrotinkatu 18 is a good example of a successful real estate development project. The renovation made use of the building’s old structures, while still emphasising the convertibility and usability of the spaces – the end result is modern office premises,” says Benjamin Kalliola, Real Estate Developer at Varma.

“A sense of community is a visible trend in property development, and today’s office premises highlight the possibility of encountering and interacting with others,” Kalliola continues.

Other tenants of Lönnrotinkatu 18 include the winner of MasterChef Finland Miro Kurvinen’s new restaurant Kungfu Kitchen, Detur Finland Oy and MaaS Finland Oy. Nearly all the spaces in the building have been leased, and negotiations on the remaining vacant spaces are currently under way.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company is the most solvent earnings-related pension company and largest private investor in Finland. The company is responsible for the statutory earnings-related pension cover of some 873,000 people in the private sector. Premiums written totalled EUR 4.7 billion in 2016 and pension payments stood at EUR 5.3 billion. Varma’s investment portfolio amounted to EUR 44.4 billion at the end of March 2017.

Bonnier Books Finland is the largest publisher of general literature in Finland. Its publishing houses are WSOY, Tammi, Johnny Kniga and Readme. Bonnier Books Finland is part of the global media conglomerate owned by the Bonnier family.

 

Further information:

Benjamin Kalliola, Real Estate Developer, tel. +358 500 996 688, firstname.lastname@varma.fi

Tarja Koskela, Real Estate Manager, tel. +358 40 519 5121, firstname.lastname@varma.fi

Timo Julkunen, CEO, Bonnier Books Finland, tel. +358 40 549 0434, firstname.lastname@bonnierbooks.fi

Leena Rantasalo, Communications Manager, tel. +358 50 300 7980, firstname.lastname@varma.fi