At the end of November last year, the Tallinn city government approved a detailed plan that envisions the construction of the Rävala Gallery commercial and business district, replacing the current Melon Business Center and an office building. A street running through the block will connect the two boulevards.

However, residents of Kaubamaja 4 are unhappy with the plans and have contested the detailed plan in Tallinn Administrative Court.

Taivo Ruus, a sworn attorney representing the complainants, told ERR that the residents were only formally involved in the planning process and none of their suggestions were taken into account.

"People are primarily unhappy because their current environment will be significantly built up, their views will be blocked, sunlight will decrease and there is uncertainty about how access to the area will be organized," he said.

Ruus also noted that because the Kaubamaja 4 building is very close to the building at Estonia puiestee 1, the construction of an underground parking garage up to three stories deep could seriously damage the Kaubamaja 4 building. "It is in close proximity; in fact, the cadastral boundary is such that part of the Kaubamaja 4 building is on the Estonia puiestee 1 property," added Ruus, who is representing about 20 apartment owners in addition to the Kaubamaja 4 apartment association.

The apartment associations had already notified the city of their dissatisfaction in 2019, when the plan was approved by the city government at the end of the previous year. At that time, they wrote to the city, stating that the planning process was not transparent and only the developer's interests were considered, while the suggestions and comments from the apartment associations were ignored.

"Approving the detailed plan in its current form will lead to a decrease in the market value of apartments in Kaubamaja 4 and Ikaros apartment associations. It will harm the well-being of the residents, not to mention the problems associated with the implementation of the plan," they told the city planning department, urging the city government to abandon the plan.

Nevertheless, the city proceeded with the plan, and after its approval at the end of November last year, residents had 30 days to challenge it. Ruus noted that the planning materials were so extensive that reviewing them required considerable time, leading the residents to initially contest the entire block's plan. However, after further review, they decided to limit their challenge to the part of the plan concerning the property at Estonia puiestee 1/3.

"The rest of the block either doesn't affect the rights of Kaubamaja 4 owners significantly or affects them to a much lesser extent. The volume of the Estonia puiestee 1/3 property is what disturbs the residents the most," the attorney explained.

The area in question is not far from the property where the Estonian Academy of Arts' main building was once planned, a project that was halted due to a legal dispute initiated by a neighboring resident. While Ruus could not predict if the Rävala Gallery district would face a similar fate, he noted that the administrative court hearing gave him the impression that this case could indeed set a precedent.

"The dispute is partly about the reduction in views, which the court analyzed most thoroughly," he said, adding that the city could not explain why permission was granted for the building to reach a height of 40 meters at its tallest point. "The issue is that the planning process must weigh different interests, and we don't see any evidence of such consideration."

Ruus also pointed out another problematic aspect: the public display period, during which everyone had the opportunity to review the planning materials, took place in January-February 2019. However, the architectural competition that selected the winning design for the district was not completed until the end of 2019, meaning it was not available during the public display.

"A large portion of the reasoning for the decision comes from the winning design, which people were not actually able to review; we couldn't find it anywhere," said the attorney.

Investor: Court action to drag out the process and create additional costs

The main investor in the Rävala Gallery project is Go Group, with Brave Capital managing the project.

"The complaints in question primarily concern the issue of views from some apartments and the size of the underground floors. We hope that a situation similar to the plot of the Estonian Academy of Arts won't happen, and that downtown Tallinn will gain an impressive building. However, it's a fact that the court dispute will prolong the process and bring additional costs," said Kersti Gorstov, communications manager for Go Group.

The city of Tallinn has declined to comment on the dispute at this time.

"Given the ongoing court proceedings, we do not find it appropriate to comment on the details of the case," said Terje Krais, head of the claims department in Tallinn's legal service. "The court will make the decision."

The Rävala Gallery is planned to be built based on a design by KOKO Architects, which won the architectural competition. The total gross floor area of the district will exceed 67,000 square meters, and it will include service, retail, office spaces and a hotel.

In addition to the buildings, a glass-roofed internal street will be constructed between Rävala puiestee and Estonia puiestee, featuring landscaped squares, outdoor cafés and a fountain.

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