Senate Properties (in , in ) is a Finnish unincorporated

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

, which manages a major part of the real estate assets owned by the

Republic of Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Establishing the Finnish office of the intendant

History

Senate Properties descends from the ''Office of the Intendant'' (corresponding names in Finnish and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

are listed in the table below), established 3 September 1811, the goal of which was to supervise the planning of government buildings. In 1865, the name was changed to the ''Board of Public Buildings''; and in 1936 to the ''National Board of Public Building''. In 1995, the National Board of Public Building — which was a

government agency A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...

managing state property — was dissolved.

Facility management Facility management or facilities management (FM) is a professional discipline focused on coordinating the use of space, infrastructure, people, and organization. Facilities management ensures that physical assets and environments are managed effe ...

operations were incorporated into ''Engel kiinteistöpalveluyhtymä Oy'', National Audit Office of Finland 2005, p. 13. which was fully

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

in 2004, the buyer being

ISS A/S ISS A/S (International Service System) is a facility management services company founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1901. ISS's core services include: security, cleaning, technical, food and workplace. The ISS Group’s revenue amounted to DKK 69. ...

. Ministry of Finance 2004. The majority of the state property assets were transferred into the newly formed ''State Real Property Agency''. The purpose of this agency was to manage the state property which was deemed to be in permanent use. On 1 January 1999, a heterogeneous collection of government real estate worth 1.3

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...

EUR was transferred from various government-owned companies and government agencies — including the State Real Property Agency — and incorporated into ''Kapiteeli Oy''. Julin 2006. The transfer consisted of buildings deemed redundant from the government perspective. This included former school buildings, empty government buildings, railway stations fallen into disuse, and other buildings that were considered unnecessary for the government to own, such as post offices and hotels. Part of this property was developed and sold on the market between 1999 and 2006. Kapiteeli was privatized in September 2006. Tekniikka & Talous 2006. The single buyer, ''Sponda Oyj'', paid 950 million

EUR The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 10 ...

for 100% of Kapiteeli's

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

. Also on 1 January 1999, the State Real Property Agency was transformed from being a government agency into being an unincorporated

. Parliament of Finland 1998 During the same year, several culturally significant properties were transferred to the State Real Property Agency, including the

Ateneum Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has ...

Kiasma Kiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name ''kiasma'', Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. Kiasma is part of the Finnish National Gallery, an ...

, and the Finnish National Opera Building. On 1 March 2001, the name of the State Real Property Agency was changed to ''Senate Properties''. Ministry of Finance 2000. The name-change required a change in law because the State Real Property Agency was a state enterprise under Finnish

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

, and such entities could not change their name via registration as in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

. The purpose with the name-change was to improve the

corporate image A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of st ...

by having a name reflecting both traditions and modern

business philosophy The philosophy of business considers the fundamental principles that underlie the formation and operation of a business enterprise; the nature and purpose of a business, and the moral obligations that pertain to it. See also * Business ethics ...

. The new name also refers to the

Helsinki Senate Square Senate Square (, ) presents Carl Ludvig Engel's architecture as a unique allegory of political, religious, scientific and commercial powers in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. Senate Square and its surroundings make up the oldest part of central ...

, where several nearby buildings are managed by Senate Properties.

Legal status

Senate Properties is an unincorporated, fully state-owned enterprise (). It is unincorporated in the sense that Senate Properties is ''not'' a

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, lawsuit, sue and be sued, ownership, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''le ...

separate from the State, and compared to incorporated companies, the organization has limited jurisdiction over its activities. European Commission 2006, p. 4. Finnish government organizations of this type are governed by the ''Unincorporated State Enterprise Act of 2002''
Laki Valtion Liikelaitoksista (in Finnish)
. Parliament of Finland 2002. Senaatti paakonttori

Finance

At the end of 2008, the

Finnish government The Finnish Government (; ; ) is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility an ...

held

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

s totaling 51.5

. Ministry of Finance 2007, p. 140. Of these assets, 3.8 billion were held in Senate Properties; consisting of 2.6 billion EUR as

equity capital In finance, equity is an ownership interest in property that may be subject to debts or other liabilities. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets owned. For example, if someone owns a ...

, and 1.2 billion as long-term

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

s. In addition to the equity capital and loans by the Finnish government, Senate Properties had 0.8 billion in

retained earnings The retained earnings (also known as plowback) of a corporation is the accumulated net income of the corporation that is retained by the corporation at a particular point in time, such as at the end of the reporting period. At the end of that per ...

, and external financing amounting to 1.2 billion from

financial institution A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...

s. Its

balance sheet In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a business ...

totaled 5.9 billion at the end of 2008.

Development projects

* Large state office building in

Hakaniemi Hakaniemi (; ) is an unofficial district of Helsinki, the Finland, Finnish capital. It covers most of the Subdivisions of Helsinki, neighbourhood of Siltasaari in the district of Kallio. Hakaniemi is located at the sea shore and is separated from ...

. Helsingin Sanomat 2008. * Töölönlahti land areas. Helsingin Sanomat 2009. Senaatti paakonttori sisapiha

General information

In 2007, Senate Properties was — out of 29 large Finnish companies — recognized as Finland's top reporter of issues related to the environment and to

corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate social impact is a form of international private business industry self-regulation, self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropy, philanthropic, activist, or chari ...

. Finnish Business & Society 2007.

Gallery of buildings

File:Valtioneuvoston linna 2.jpg, The Government Palace (Finland), Government Palace near the Senate Square. File:Kesaranta Helsinki.jpg,

Kesäranta Kesäranta (, ) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Finland, located in Helsinki in the neighborhood of Meilahti, overlooking Seurasaarenselkä. The residence is owned by the Finnish Government through Senate Properties. The Mei ...

, the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the

Prime Minister of Finland The prime minister of Finland (; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and his or her cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol after the president ...

, in

Meilahti Meilahti (in Swedish Mejlans) is a neighbourhood of Helsinki between Mannerheimintie (the main entrance road to Helsinki) and a bay named Seurasaarenselkä. Most of the houses in Meilahti were built in the 1930s and 1940s. Meilahti is home to o ...

. File:Helsingin musiikkitalo 24.5.2009.jpg, Construction of the

Helsinki Music Center The Helsinki Music Centre (, ) is a concert hall and a music center in Töölönlahti, Helsinki. The building is home to Sibelius Academy and two symphony orchestras, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. ...

. File:Kiasmamodernartmuseum.JPG, The contemporary art museum

Mannerheimintie Mannerheimintie () (previously known as ''Henrikinkatu'', ''Läntinen ja Itäinen Henrikinkatu'', ''Läntinen ja Itäinen Heikinkatu'', ''Turuntie'', ''Läntinen viertotie'', ''Heikinkatu''), colloquially known as Mansku, named after the Finni ...

. File:Supreme Court of Finland.jpg, The

Supreme Court of Finland The Supreme Court of Finland ( , abbreviated as ''KKO''; , abbreviated as ''HD''), located in Helsinki, is the court of last resort for cases within the private law of Finland (that is, civil and criminal cases). The Court's counterpart is the ...

on Pohjoisesplanadi. File:VillaLante.JPG, The

Villa Lante al Gianicolo Villa Lante al Gianicolo is a villa in Rome on the Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo). It is a summer house designed by Giulio Romano in 1520-21 for Baldassare Turini, as one of Romano's first independent commissions after the death of his master Raph ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. File:Kasarmikatu 24 Helsinki.jpg, The

Museum of Finnish Architecture The Museum of Finnish Architecture (, ) is an architectural museum in Helsinki, Finland. Established in 1956, it is the second oldest museum of its kind (after the Shchusev Museum of Architecture in Moscow) devoted specifically to architecture. T ...

. File:Designmuseo I Helsinki.jpg, The

Design Museum, Helsinki Design Museum (, ) is a museum in Helsinki devoted to the exhibition of both Finnish and foreign design, including industrial design, fashion, and graphic design. The building is situated in Kaartinkaupunki, on Korkeavuorenkatu Street, and is own ...

. File:Säätytalo (Helsinki), Ständerhuset (Helsinki), Maison des États (Helsinki), House of the Estates (Helsinki) 03.jpg, The

House of the Estates The House of the Estates (, ) is a historical building in Helsinki, Finland. It is located opposite of the Bank of Finland building, immediately northeast of Helsinki Cathedral. Description It was built in 1888-1890 and inaugurated in January 1 ...

. File:Finnish National Opera Helsinki 2016 02.jpg, The Finnish National Opera Building. File:Kakola-prison of Turku.jpg, Turku Central Prison — “''Kakola''” — defunct since 2007. File:Turun hovioikeus.jpg, The building of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

. File:Kuopion lääninhallitus 2017.jpg, The State Provincial Office of

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

File:Court of appeal in Vaasa.JPG, The building of the

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),

External links

* {{authority control Government-owned companies of Finland Real estate in Finland Sörnäinen 1999 establishments in Finland Companies based in Helsinki Financial services companies of Finland Real estate companies established in 1999