Ülemiste Wants to Become a 24/7 District

Text Timo Raussi

Photos Press photos / Gunnar Kurusk and Rail Baltic

Viewed across the railway from the T1 side, Ülemiste Centre can be seen on the right, with the new hotel tower in the middle.

 

Ülemiste City, the office district located between Tallinn Airport and the railway leading to Narva and Tartu, will in the coming years transform into a mini-district that attracts travellers and residents, buzzing with life around the clock. This is the belief of the Pärnits family, one of Estonia’s most successful entrepreneurial families, who manage the area through the Ülemiste shopping centre and the Mainor real estate development company.

There are three, or actually even four, drivers of this change. Between the T1 and Ülemiste shopping centres, the Linda Terminal is currently being built to serve future Rail Baltic trains and, from around 2028 onwards, also existing domestic rail connections in Estonia. Trams running to the airport will return to their route under it during the coming summer. Even once completed, however, Linda will remain a detached “stump” of sorts—a combination of an overpass and waiting hall without direct indoor connections to the centres.

A second trend supporting the area’s development is the already two-year rise in passenger numbers at Tallinn Airport. These numbers are expected to even double with the terminal expansion by 2030.

 

 

Ülemiste centre and its surroundings are being transformed

Even today, Ülemiste is bustling with life during the day. Estonia’s largest shopping centre, led by Guido Pärnits who also sits on Mainor’s board, welcomed 7.1 million visitors last year. Some of them are office workers, of whom up to 18,000 are present in the area on weekdays. If the visions presented to the media yesterday come true, the shopping centre will move its main entrance to what is now essentially its “back side”, towards the train station and its current parking garage once Linda is completed.

The centre also plans to expand both downwards and upwards. The idea is to move parking and logistics facilities underground, while new residential floors would be built above new ground-level commercial spaces—somewhat similar to the Iso Omena centre in Espoo. In front of the new main entrance and the starting point of the Linda overpass, a landscaped pedestrian plaza called Europe Park is planned.

The Mainor development company, whose CEO is Guido’s son Sten Pärnits, is meanwhile seeking funding for several projects. One of these is a 24-storey tower building including, among other things, a hotel and conference centre, rising on the edge of the same plaza. Its appearance will be designed by the Zaha Hadid Architects firm, which also created the design for the Linda Terminal.

 

 

Spa, apartments and a nursing home

In order for Ülemiste City to transform from a workplace hub active only during the day into a 24/7 community, it needs, in addition to a hotel, more leisure services as well as users for them. Mainor has already signed a preliminary agreement to bring, by 2028, a sauna and spa centre similar to Mustamäe’s Elamus Spa and Viimsi Spa between the current office buildings. Regarding restaurants, which are currently focused only on lunch service, Mainor comments only that the balance between supply and demand is guided by the free market.

At the moment, among IT, finance, fintech and health-technology companies, Ülemiste is home to many different occupational health, medical, and rehabilitation service providers. Their range will be complemented in 2027 by care services: a private nursing home that will move into the third health building to be completed. Mainor’s vision for 2030 also includes the construction of at least 400 apartment units. As a result, up to 25,000 people could one day live, work or study daily in Ülemiste.

To implement all of the above, the Pärnits family says that around 500 million euros in capital is needed. The development company is preparing the issuance of a bond targeted at international investors.

 

To learn more about this and similar topics
Airport Rail Baltic Shopping Centre Spa Tallinn Trains Ülemiste