AEW Europe City Retail Fund have bought the iconic ‘Book Store’ building from Stockmann for €109 million. The building which was designed by world famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and built in 1969 contains almost 8500 sqm of retail and 2500 sqm of office space. This sale comes after Stockmann’s announcement that they had put the building up for sale in January to capitalise on booming commercial property prices and clear company debt. AEW currently own properties in 8 countries, however this is their first purchase in Finland. Their portfolio now consists of 11 properties worth approximately €500 million. Christina Ofschonka, portfolio manager at Europe City Retail Fund stated that the purchase matched their focus for high quality and income properties in capital city and teir one locations “It is one of the best known and located properties in Helsinki in terms of accessibility, footfall prominence and visibility, and has an attractive income profile as well as asset management potential”.
