Corem Property Group firmly believes in Kista. They want to open up the urban environment, create more exciting meeting areas and contribute to the tech businesses taking a place in the streets. As Kista's largest property owner, Corem is a driving player in The Kloud and works intensively to increase Kista's competitiveness and attractiveness, both for the short and long term.
Photo: Per-Erik Adamsson
With 30 properties and approximately 350,000 square meters, Corem Property Group is Kista's largest property owner. Among the company’s 330 commercial tenants are the head offices of Ericsson and Tele2. The subsidiary FirstOffice offers a number of popular coworking facilities and, together with ALM Equity, Corem also owns the housing development company Klövern, which will create many new homes in Kista.
Siggela Möller, Corem business development manager, talks about the company’s strong involvement in the district and in The Kloud:
“We firmly believe in Kista and have done so for as long as we have been here. The district has many strengths to build on. It also needs to be developed and improved – not least in terms of architecture, mixed use areas and lively street spaces. But no-one can lift Kista on their own, we have to work together. Therefore, it is obvious for us to be part of The Kloud.”
A mixed and lively district
Corem's geographical focus areas in Kista are primarily Grönlandsparken, Arne Beurlings square and the whole of Torshamnsgatan. In addition to Corem developing new offices and other premises, the jointly owned development company Klövern will also create about 1,000 new homes in Kista Square Garden, Ericsson's old office block at Jan Stenbecks square, as well as additional homes in the block Isafjord 1, which today is a large parking lot next to Tele2.
“We work in many ways and in different areas to create an even better Kista – an attractive mix of housing, offices, services, care, parks and everything else needed in a living city. To succeed, we must work together with other property owners, companies, and universities in Kista, as well as the City of Stockholm and other players,” says Siggela Möller.
Showroom for new technology
There is a lot of exciting technology being developed in Kista, but much of it stays within the walls of the tech companies. Ulrika Haglert is Corem's business unit manager in Kista. She started working in the district back in 2003 and has been able to follow the development since then:
“Kista has changed a lot in the last 20 years. But the district is still a little too closed and ‘secret’. There is a double meaning to how Kista will open up. Partly in the way property owners and the municipality create more meeting places and lively street spaces. But also, by giving Kista's tech companies the opportunity to show and test their products in the local street environment. We want Kista to be a living showroom for the technology of the future.”
Creativity, variety and endurance
The efforts involved in developing Kista are needed for both the short and long term. Helena Holmberg is responsible for brand development in Corem's urban development project. She wants to see continued creativity and variety in the transformation work – and persistence:
“As property owners, we are used to construction projects that can take several years to complete. But Kista's evolution has already begun, including for example location launches. These can be things like art, events, pop-up concepts and collaborations with our tenants. To create a more open and vibrant Kista, we must work together, be creative and be persistent. We also need to take advantage of, and use, the innovation capacity that already exist here.”
The Kista of today and of the future
When asked to list the good and bad of Kista today, Siggela, Ulrika and Helena quickly agree. On the plus side is the cluster of world-leading tech companies and competency, the schools and universities, the proximity to nature and the district's young, international vibe. They also see the collaboration happening in The Kloud, with both its power and common vision, as a great advantage.
Things that need to be improved, they think, include the current division of Kista into a residential half and an office half, the often rather closed-off street spaces, the large, empty parking lots and the sometimes-boring architecture.
“Both Corem and the other players in The Kloud collaboration are determined to build on Kista's strengths and take on the existing challenges. We want to make the district livelier and more attractive, while at the same time maintain its distinctive character as certainly one of Sweden's most innovative places,” says Ulrika Haglert.
“Kista has all the conditions to be a vibrant and lively district that attracts entrepreneurs, students, researchers, and employees from all over the world. The mix of talented people and leading innovation companies with an attractive and diverse urban environment is crucial for Kista's continued success,” concludes Helena Holmberg.
