CITYCON OYJ Press release 21 October 2021
When it opens in spring 2022, the urban centre Lippulaiva will house over 20 restaurant operators, significantly improving the restaurant offering in the area. The selection of restaurants and cafés in Lippulaiva includes both Finnish operators and international chains as well as a completely new operator on the Finnish market. The demand for premises in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic exceeded all expectations.
Lippulaiva’s list of restaurants and cafés is long, as it includes more than 20 operators. The new urban centre will house both Finnish operators and well-known, international chains such as Arnold’s, Bites Burgers, Burger King, Espresso House, Fafa’s, Fire Wok, Gateau, Itsudemo, KFC, Kotipizza, Kung Food Panda, La Locanda, Momo & More, Mr. Döner, Pomo D'or Pasta & Pizza, Subway and Sidewalk.
Lippulaiva’s offering will also include Gourmet Burger, a new restaurant concept specialising in gourmet hamburgers, as well as Chatime, a newcomer to the Finnish market. With roots in Taiwan, the Chatime chain specialises in tea and currently operates in 38 countries.
Lippulaiva will have a diverse selection of high-quality restaurants and cafés – there will be cosy family restaurants, ambient cafés, first-rate beer houses, delicious juice bars as well as fast food. Fast food services are concentrated on the street level, and the second floor will house restaurants that are suitable for socialising and longer visits. On the Solmutori side of the centre there will be a large outdoor patio area where the sun can shine all day long – weather and season permitting, naturally.
Lippulaiva’s restaurant world Koggi is located on the street level of the centre. Other restaurants and cafés will also be located elsewhere in Lippulaiva, such as near the entrances. Koggi has eight restaurants – Bites Burgers, Fafa’s, Fire Wok, Itsudemo, Kotipizza, Kung Food Panda, Momo & More and Pomo D'or Pasta & Pizza.
Significant improvement to the restaurant and café offering in the area
According to Commercial Director Mari Laaksonen, interest in the premises to be rented to restaurant operators at the urban centre under construction exceeded all expectations.
“The demand for the premises for restaurant operators in Lippulaiva was surprising both in terms of quantity and quality. Lippulaiva will bring a significant improvement to the restaurant and café offering in the area, and we are happy to be able to offer Lippulaiva’s customers so many different restaurant concepts”, says Mari Laaksonen.
Already at the planning stage, a survey was conducted to identify the types of restaurant operators needed in the area. Based on the results, it was decided to increase the number of premises reserved for restaurant and café operators in Lippulaiva.
“Lippulaiva is a unique and versatile business environment. In addition to shops, it also houses lots of different services and activities, such as a library and a kindergarten. This isn’t so much a traditional shopping centre as it is an urban centre in which the services in the area are concentrated and which also serves as a transport hub”, Mari Laaksonen says.
Lippulaiva will be a thriving centre for local services in the rapidly growing greater Espoonlahti area, which will house approximately 100 different shops, cafés and restaurants, as well as private and public services. Lippulaiva focuses on a strong grocery and daily shopping service offering, and it will have one of the largest grocery store concentrations in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The anchor tenants of the centre include the Espoonlahti regional library, kindergarten Pilke Pikku purtilo, fitness centre Elixia, K-Supermarket, Prisma, Lidl and Tokmanni. The new Espoonlahti metro station, bus terminal as well as eight residential towers will also be located in and around Lippulaiva.
For more information, please contact:
Mari Laaksonen
Commercial Director
Tel. +358 (0)20 766 4434
mari.laaksonen@citycon.com
Citycon is the leading owner, developer and manager of multipurpose urban centres. Our centres in key urban areas combine retail, office premises and housing with well-functioning traffic connections. We are committed to sustainable property maintenance, and the total value of the property portfolio in the Nordic Countries managed by Citycon is approximately EUR 4.4 billion. Our centres offer daily consumer goods, health care services as well as other services to meet the daily needs of our customers.
