Helsinki-based listed property company Sponda has announced the inauguration of expanded Zeppelin shopping centre in Kempele, northern Finland.

The expansion project, completed in 2011, increased the leasable area of northern Finland's largest shopping centre to approximately 30,150 m2.

The project was completed on a tight schedule and expanded the shopping centre by 8,700 m2. The Prisma hypermarket in Zeppelin was expanded by 4,000 m2, and the remaining 4,700 m2 of the expansion were devoted to specialty retail.

The entire shopping centre is fully occupied. All 23 shop spaces in the expansion area were leased out in the summer, said Olli Lehtoaro, vice president, shopping centres at Sponda.

Sponda invests in office, retail and logistics properties in Finland and Russia. The properties in Finland are mainly located in the Helsinki metropolitan area and in Oulu, Tampere and Turku. In Russia Sponda owns properties in St Petersburg and Moscow. The fair value of the property portfolio was EUR 3.1 bn at end-June 2011.