One analyst says that the current economic climate is likely a factor in the delay.

The company, Estconde Invest, says it will start work on the City Plaza 2 project, located at Tartu mnt 1/Laikmaa 11," in the near future."

Preparatory excavation work began last autumn (see gallery).

Estconde Invest CEO Angel Andla could not provide a specific date. "These things do not move all that rapidly. We are dealing with the project, and the leasing negotiations are underway," he said.

The EKA building was demolished in 2010 and the site has been used as a parking lot during some of the intervening time, but construction of the replacement building has been delayed due to local opposition.

Subsequently, EKA sold the plot for €6.9 million to City Plaza, and moved to its present day location in Kalamaja, also after vacating another property on Teatri väljak.

Tallinn City Planning Department issued Estconde Invest a building permit in August 2023, but the latter has not submitted a construction notice back to that department in the intervening time.

In November 2023, Estconde told the city that it planned to start construction this coming November.

Real estate expert Peep Sooman noted that companies are in "savings mode" and so not squandering resources; bureaucratic costs thus need to be seen in this light too, he said, which makes "perfect sense" that the construction be delayed, given the lengthy and ongoing economic contraction.

Euribor rate rises have also played their part, he said.

"Today, the loan service burden is greater than before, and the market is more uncertain," Sooman told ERR.

According to Sooman, there is no "normal" time at which a building can start, once a permit has been received.

"Our city is full of empty plots. For example, Osten Tor (an apartment block – ed.) on Pärnu mnt was a concrete box for over ten years before it became a building," he said.

In the case of office construction, Sooman said, the usual chain of events is that commercial buildings gather a critical mass of tenants, then, usually, a lease is concluded with an "anchor" tenant.

This can result in a disparity during tough economic times, between firms' desires not to be locked into such agreements and banks' desires for certainty here when issuing loans.

City Plaza 2 once built will have 21,000 square meters of office and commercial space across 28 floors, while the largest indoor bicycle parking facility in Estonia, at 218 spaces, is planned for the basement.

The building will also host some retail space including a cafe, while landscaping in the form of tree-planting and a small green area is also in the plan.

Alver Arhitektid drew up the architectural plans; the project's detailed planning process began with an order from the Tallinn City Government on March 13, 2017 following a request from City Plaza OÜ the previous year.

Following an amendment to the detailed plan, Estconde Invest became the interested party in the agreement signed between the Tallinn City Planning Department, entrepreneur Peep Moorast, City Plaza, and Estconde Invest.

Estconde Invest's previous commercial real estate developments in Tallinn include the Estconde business center at Pärnu maantee 158, and the Toompuiestee 33 development.

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