Building projects

190 apartments at Aitiopaikka were finished by the end of 2018. The works continued with the rest of the apartments in the beginning of 2019. The total estimate of costs for the project is 25 M€.

The planning for the new unit Tyyssija, that began during the fall of 2017, continued, and the plans required for the invitation to tender were finished during the fall of 2018. In December 2018 the invitation to tender for the works was published, and the period for making bids ended in February 2018. The winner of the invitation to tender will be decided by negotiations.

The head designer for Tyyssija was SIGGE Arkkitehdit Ltd who won the architectural competition, the planner for the structural engineering was A-Insinöörit Suunnittelu Ltd, HVAC planner was LVI-Soisalo Ltd, and the electrics planner was Karawatski Ltd. The unit will be built following Kuivaketju10, so at the planning stages a humidity coordinator (Sitowise Ltd) was named for the project. ARA has approved the unit a preliminary provision of approximately 22 M€. The total estimate for the project is approximately 30 M€, including commercial premises and the new office for the foundation. Rental contracts have been made with service providers from shops, restaurants and sports facilities for the commercial premises at Tyyssija.

The old office building of the foundation, the hall of residence and the garage were demolished to make way for the new Tyyssija, during the fall 2018. The old resident laundry room was demolished along with the old office building, and a new laundry room was built in Yo-kylä 1 C. At the same time the shop that was located at the old office building was moved to a temporary location at the downstairs of Ikituuri.

A participation and valuation plan was made for the planning of Kylänkulma during the fall of 2018. The planning preparations and the detailed planning of the construction will continue during the spring of 2019. The planning and construction plans will be finished during the year 2019.

The property maintenance began a second two-year option period with ISS Palvelut Ltd. The option negotiations were initiated in January 2018, and the contract for initiating the option period was signed in May 2018. Starting with the new option period, the units will regularly have five unit servicemen and two servicemen taking care of the outside areas.

The renewal of the old locking systems continued in 2018. The renewal of the locking systems will continue in 2019. The competitive tendering for the general agreements for HVAC and electrics repair works began during the fall of 2018, and the contractors were chosen in January 2019. The contracts come into force 1.3.2019 and remain in force until further notice.

As in previous years, significant investment was made to improve the quality of the apartments, and to renovate them. In addition to bought repair services, two of the foundation’s own repairmen have been fixing the properties. The renovations aimed at making Iltakajo more comfortable were finished, when the final building (house A) of the unit was renovated during the summer of 2018. As with the renovations that took place during the previous years in houses B and C, all the apartments in house A were transformed into shared flats that are suitable for exchange students. All the surfaces, kitchens and bathrooms were renewed.

During the last months of 2018, the planning for the renovation of the facade of entrances A-E at Kuunsilta began. The aim is to transform the shared flats into studios, and to make the family apartments more comfortable. In these renovations 26 apartments will become 42. The cost estimate is 1 M€. The planning for the renovation of the facades in buildings Student Village 20B ja 25B began in December 2018.

Overall maintenance costs were approximately 17.4 million euros, equaling 8,21€/m2/month (16.5 million euros and 7.81€/m2/month in 2017). The budget was exceeded in some areas, such as waste management (€79,000), rentals (€52,000) and repairs (€40,000), but the significant savings that were made, especially in use and maintenance (€218,000), cleaning (€96,000), heating (€243,000), water and wastewater (€94,000) and electricity (€62,000) ensured a positive overall effect on the budget. In total, the combined sum of all maintenance-related costs came in approximately 0.7 million euros below budget.

The largest individual installments in the repair costs category were Iltakajo A-building’s renovation, along with door replacements and repairs done on heat exchangers, both in Student Village West. Renovation costs of apartments came in at a total of approximately 2.2 million euros. In addition to the repair costs documented in the income statement, corrections were made to the balance sheet in about 0.6 million euros.