Colliers International advise LAK on one of Europe’s Largest Hotel deals this year
LAK Real Estate Oy has selected Nordic Choice Hotels as the operator for its hotel project and redevelopment at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Colliers International Hotels & Resorts consulting team acted for LAK Real Estate and managed the competitive pitching process for what was not only the largest hotel letting in Finland but also possibly the largest for any hotel in Europe.
Managing Director of LAK Tommi Vaisalo says the hotel project is one of the major development projects currently underway by the company. “We are building an entirely new airport city in the Aviapolis area. The construction of retail, office and residential spaces is commencing on top of the southern entrance of Aviapolis railway station. This new hotel project will rise right next to the airport terminal to serve air passengers and conference guests, thereby greatly supporting the overall development of the airport area,” Vaisalo says.
The new hotel project will become by far the largest in Finland. The 13-storey hotel ensemble with over 700 rooms has two different and mutually complementing concepts. The hotel will also offer large-scale conference services which the airport area has been lacking so far. The top floor will house a Sky Bar not only for the hotel guests. There is an indoor passage connection to the airport terminal and the railway station below.
“This is a considerable project even on the national scale. Aviapolis is one of Finland’s fastest growing workplace areas where the new conference hotel will contribute to the area development by offering quality accommodation and conference rooms also to the demands of international business activity,” added Chairman of the Board of LAK Mikko Räsänen.
“It is great to have a world-class hotel at Helsinki-Vantaa to complement the service offering of the airport and support the airport development as a significant European air traffic hub,” said Managing Director Kimmo Mäki of Finavia.
The company chosen as the new hotel operator was Nordic Choice Hotels.
The planning of the hotel project started in 2018. Vaisalo states that co-operation negotiations were held with several parties, but the strong brands and competence of Nordic Choice Hotels were convincing.
“The planning was conditioned from the start by having two different concepts for the new hotel project to offer the widest possible choice of services to the different target groups. Nordic Choice has also developed conference activity at the Arlanda airport with great success.“We have really fallen in love with Finland and Helsinki. To Nordic Choice Hotels, this is an exciting journey which has just started. These hotels will fit perfectly into our vision of exceeding people’s expectations. And by adding something new to the market, I am certain this will be another successful expansion of our products in the Finnish market, Petter Stordalen,” stated founder of Nordic Choice Hotels
The lease agreement of the hotel was signed 16 September and Colliers International brokered the deal. The construction will start next year, and the target is to open the hotel in 2023. The total construction budget will exceed € 120 million.
“This deal shows the benefit of engaging professional advisers to thoroughly investigate the market for operating partners. By creating competitive tension, it is possible to achieve results which exceed client expectations. This can only be done by collaborating with a specialist adviser, like Colliers, who have an in depth knowledge of all of the options available. This strategy has brought about a successful result for LAK rewarding their foresight and hard work over the past year,” concluded Marc Finney, Head of Hotels & Resort Consulting at Colliers International.
