My Oulu: The marketplace hotel project is alive again – economy-class hotel should open in late 2025
The construction work of the Marketplace Hotel should be re-launched during this year and the hotel rented by Scandic should be opened in late 2025. Photo: Pasi Rytinki
Jaa sosiaalisessa mediassa:
The marketplace hotel project finally moved forward recently in Oulu. The hotel chain Scandic has signed a rental contract for the unfinished building with the construction company SRV. The Scandic Go Hotel next to the Market Hall is expected to open in late 2025.
The hotel chain Scandic announced recentl that they have signed a long-term rental contract with SRV for the new Scandic Go Hotel in Oulu’s immediate city centre. The new hotel on the location of the unfinished hotel by the marketplace is expected to open in late 2025. The hotel will include 144 rooms.
The hotel will be a part of the so-called economy-class Scandic Go chain that attempts to tempt travelers with “good prices, cozy design and effortless service solutions”. There will be restaurant facilities and a multi-purpose hall on the first floor of the hotel.
“Oulu is the centre of business operations and tourism in the region. The new hotel is a part of our growth strategy in Finland and with the Scandic Go Hotel we will reinforce our standing in the region. We are also responding to market demand and filling a vacuum in this quickly expanding market”, Country Manager Laura Tarkka explains in Scandic’s announcement.
According to Scandic, the economic segment of the hotel sector has grown heavily in the last years and is expected to continue growing. The growth has come about due to changed traveling habits and economic situations.
According to the Director of Strategic Project Development Hannu Lokka, the construction work should begin before the end of the year and should be done in late 2025.
“The goal is to finish the hotel in time for large events in Oulu, for example, the European Capital of Culture year 2026. Thus, we are responding to Oulu’s hotel market demand together with Scandic. We will develop the building to become a centre of support for travel and business”, Lokka states in the announcement.
The marketplace hotel project has been in the works since 2007. After the idea contest and land use planning, the businessman Jyrki Hallikainen’s company signed a rental contract in 2015. The building was expected to be finished in 2017, but the project proceeded slowly until it froze altogether.
The hotel construction site has been idle until the winter of 2022 when SRV bankrupted Hallikainen’s company that had ended up in financial difficulties. After that, the unfinished building has been held by the bankruptcy estate and looking for a new buyer.