State gives former Harju County Government building to Tallinn
The government of Estonia decided to accept the request of the Tallinn council and give Roosikrantsi 12 building for use in the capital. The value of the property is estimated at €2.6 million. The city will have the building at its disposal this fall.
Harju County Government operated the building until 2018. After eliminating the County Government, the building had no purpose for the state. Tallinn City Council requested to give the building to the city of Tallinn who would use it as the city government's administrative building.
By the decision of the government, the entire building complex located at Roosikrantsi 12 will be transferred to Tallinn.
The building did not stay empty after the county government finished its business there. Harju County Sports Association (Harjumaa spordiliit), the Northern Estonian Public Transport Center (Põhja-Eesti ühistranspordikeskus), the Association of Estonian Cities and Rural Municipalities (Eesti linnade ja valdade liit) and, temporarily, the Agricultural Board (Põllumajandusamet) operate there with valid lease agreements to this day. Kristina Haavala, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance (Rahandusministeerium) told ERR that lease agreements will be transferred to the city government with the transfer of the property.
Deputy Mayor of Tallinn Eha Võrk said that the city will initially continue with the existing lease agreements in the Roosikrantsi 12 building. Based on Võrk's words, it has not been decided whether the building complex will be renovated.
Haavala noted out that the size of the building fits with the right size for the city government and it is needed to fulfill the tasks coming from the law. The state will hand over the complex on its own terms, and it is the city's decision if they will sell the building. The state wants to get its share of the sale price.
"Due to the restrictions provided in the State Assets Act (Riigivaraseadus), the city may use this real estate only for the purpose as indicated in the application, i.e. as an administrative building of city government authorities. In case of onward transfer of a registered real estate within 10 years, 65 percent of the value of the registered building must be returned to the state," said Haavala.
Haavala said that the value of the building is €2.6 million. An auditor of PricewaterhouseCooper assessed the value of the property.
Eha Võrk said that the transfer of the property to the city is expected to take place in the autumn.
Although the government has given its consent to the transfer of the building, the final decision on the transfer is made by the Ministry of Finance. Riigi Kinnisvara AS (State Real Estate - RKAS) has to transfer the ownership to state ownership. The costs of the transfer are covered by the City of Tallinn.
If RKAS loses €2.6million from the Roosikrantsi 12 building, then it is the government's decision if they will give 11 real estates of the Ministry of Environment (Keskkonnaministeerium – MoE) to RKAS. The 11 real estates of MoE total value is also approximately €2.6 million.
Editor: Katriin Eikin Sein