Supplier News
Finland – RAY chooses Arena project in Tampere to house second Finnish casino
By Phil - 18 October 2016
Having shelved its plans to develop a casino close to the Vaalimaa border-crossing point in Virolahti, Eastern Finland, Finland’s Slot Machine Association RAY has confirmed it wants to transfer the licence approved for the failed project to the Central Deck and Arena project in the city of Tampere in southern Finland.
Tampere is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The strengths of the multifunctional Central Deck and Arena project, which RAY considered when making the decision on the location of the new casino, include diverse restaurant, accommodation and entertainment services, a rich selection of events around the year, and a central location with good transport connections.
In February 2016, the City of Tampere selected a consortium formed by the project’s developers SRV to further develop the Central Deck and Arena project. Negotiations have been conducted throughout the year on the financing of the project, key rental and cooperation agreements, and investor cooperation.
Timo Nieminen, SRV’s Executive Vice President, responsible for project development in Finland, said: “This is great news for SRV, and we are delighted that RAY selected our multifunctional arena as the location for their new game and event centre. We will be proud to continue promoting this unique project, which – if realised – means that Tampere will have a completely new district with good transport connections.”
The aim is to complete a major part of the agreements by the end of the year, after which the final implementation decision can be made
If realised, the project, the total value of which amounts to €500m would connect the eastern and western parts of Tampere. The area would form a new kind of hybrid block, combining a multifunctional arena, offices and apartments.
In addition to the casino, the largest sports and event arena in Finland would house a hotel, restaurants and other recreational premises, which would enable SRV to collaborate with various kinds of partners.
The first phase includes covering the southern railway yard with a deck, on which the event arena, two tower buildings and a training hall will be built.
The second phase includes the building of a northern deck and three tower buildings. The entire site will include a total of 120,000 floor square metres and over a thousand apartments. The aim is to begin construction work of the southern deck and the event arena in spring 2017. According to the estimated schedule, the first phase will be completed in the summer of 2020, and the whole area in 2023.
The site in Vaalimaa was stopped due to problems with investment from its Russian partners. The plan had been to tap into the millions of Russians passing through this border point each year and their desire to gamble. The project suffered due to a decline in the value of the rouble and delays in wire transfers caused by economic sanctions.
RAY has also said it is interested in setting up a chain of smaller gaming clubs in Lappeenranta, Lahti, Rovaniemi, Kuopio, Vaasa, Oulu and Seinäjoki.
The company recently announced that revenue from the first eight months of the year had increased by €5m, up by one per cent. Casino Helsinki continued its slightly downward revenue development during the second third of the year, with a total revenue of €18.8m in January to August, down 2.5 per cent.
RAY’s 92 Pelaamo arcades and clubs generated €70.5m in revenue, growing by 10 per cent compared to the previous year. However, the operator’s most profitable games, by a considerable margin, are those played on the slot machines located in the premises of business partners, such as shops, kiosks.
