Osuuskauppa Arina, Kesko and University of Oulu to jointly apply for a planning reservation for the Raksila area in Oulu
The planning work will involve determining the services to be located in the Raksila area, reserving the planning areas and planning the traffic and parking solutions. Planning will also identify opportunities for cooperation to minimise the area’s carbon footprint.
The supermarket area, constructed in Raksila in the 1970s, has long been the object of renovation plans and in the planning processes in cooperation with Osuuskauppa Arina and Kesko, the long-term users of the area. The University of Oulu, for one, decided on 28 April 2020 to launch project planning in order to build a new campus in the centre of Oulu. In terms of accessibility, the Raksila area is the most ideal location in the immediate vicinity of the city centre, railway station and bus station and also close to the Kontinkangas campus of the university, the university hospital and the Välkkylä student village of PSOAS, the Student Housing Foundation in Northern Finland. The decision of the University Board of Directors was preceded by preliminary discussions with representatives of the city and commercial operators.
“The goal of Osuuskauppa Arina is to develop services on a long-term basis throughout its large area of operations in Northern Finland. The Raksila area is an important location for us in Oulu and we are committed to also developing the area. This new planning reservation aims to achieve the best overall solution through cooperation between the parties,” says Veli-Matti Puutio, CEO of Osuuskauppa Arina.
“For decades, K-Citymarket in Raksila has been an important location for Kesko and our customers. We want to be involved in developing the area with the parties to achieve the best possible solution,” says Jari Saarinen, District Director of Kesko in Northern Finland.
“The goal of the university’s planning reservation is to build an appealing campus of about 30,000 floor m² in the area in cooperation with the City of Oulu and the other operators in the area. The university’s needs for facilities in the centre campus include primarily learning and working premises and also facilities for meetings, encounters and events that are flexible in terms of the future studying and working needs,” says Jouko Niinimäki, Rector of the University of Oulu.
The university’s goal is to start building in 2024–2025, in which case the facilities would be completed in 2027–2028. Project planning is being carried out in cooperation with the City of Oulu and operators in the area.