Sponda has purchased Arif I Ky's (Amplion Asset Management Oy's) holding in the Zeppelin Shopping Center, located in Kempele, for the price of 7.8 million. The deal increases Sponda's holding in the shopping center from 71.5% to approximately 88%. The premises being transferred to Sponda have been leased to Osuuskauppa Arina in their entirety.
Since 1992, the Zeppelin Shopping Center has offered services to the residents of the Kempele and Oulu region and is currently undergoing an expansion project. Upon completion of the project in late 2011, Sponda's holding in Zeppelin will increase further to over 90%.
Sponda's expansion project increases the area of the shopping center with 8,700 m². The project will add some 4,000 m² of new retail space for the Prisma hypermarket and 4,700 m² of space for specialty retail. The expansion project will increase the leasable area of Northern Finland's largest shopping complex to 29,800 m². The total investment in the project is approximately 18 million.
"The expansions complement the services offered in the shopping center and diversify the service level for residents in the area. We also expect this to bring a new impetus to the shopping center and increase the number of customers and the total sales in Zeppelin. In 2010, the number of customers in the shopping center was nearly 3.5 million and the total sales amounted to 91.5 million," reports Olli Lehtoaro, Vice President at Sponda's shopping centers unit.
Source: GlobeNewswire
