CapMan RE sells Seminaari School property in Hämeenlinna to Hemsö

CapMan Real Estate has sold the Seminaari School property, which is located in the centre of Hämeenlinna and is held by the CapMan Nordic Real Estate III fund (CMNRE III). The business plan was implemented faster than originally planned, allowing this property intended for public use to be sold earlier than expected and significantly exceeding the original underwriting's return targets. The buyer is the Swedish investor Hemsö, who expected the deal to close in November 2025.

The Seminaari School is the largest primary school in Hämeenlinna, accommodating approximately 700 pupils. The City of Hämeenlinna is the tenant under a 17-year lease agreement. The lettable area is 12,000 square meters.

The acquisition of Seminarieskolan is part of Hemsö’s ongoing expansion in Finland. “This collaboration with the City of Hämeenlinna is especially exciting for us as it marks our first property with the city as a tenant. We look forward to building a strong relationship and providing facilities that support innovation and development for the city’s students. Long-term leases and active dialog with our tenants are cornerstones of our operation,” says Jarkko Leinonen, Head of Region Finland at Hemsö. The company already owns 170,000 square meters of educational properties in Finland and works closely with cities including Helsinki and Lahti. In Hämeenlinna, Hemsö also owns a courthouse and a nursing home.

During CapMan Real Estate’s ownership, significant value-enhancing projects were completed, including:
• The finalisation of a comprehensive renovation of one of the buildings, originally completed in 1953, in close cooperation with the City of Hämeenlinna
• Implementation of extensive energy-efficiency and accessibility improvements
• Installation of a new geothermal heating system, significantly reducing the property’s carbon footprint and increased the amount of on-site generated renewable energy

Combined energy efficiency and geothermal heating investments are calculated to lead to more than 65% reduction in primary energy demand of the property. Furthermore, these measures allowed the upgrading of the energy performance certificate (EPC) of the property from C and D (CCCD) to EPC class A for each of the 4 buildings making the property EU taxonomy aligned, definition of sustainable investments.

These measures improved the property’s energy efficiency, user experience, and long-term value, positioning the school property as a modern educational facility.

“We are pleased to have completed these planned renovation projects and sustainability investments to the Seminaari School property during our ownership and in good cooperation with the property’s tenant, City of Hämeenlinna. It’s great to hand over a high-quality and sustainable educational asset to its new owner. This transaction highlights our active asset management approach and our ability to enhance the long-term value and sustainability aspects of socially important properties. We would like to thank the City of Hämeenlinna for the excellent cooperation throughout our ownership,” says Aleksi Konsti, Head of Finland at CapMan Real Estate.

Following this transaction, the second exit from the fund, the CapMan Nordic Real Estate III fund continues its value-increasing activities across all portfolio assets.