Kim Särs to head Trevian’s new residential real estate business

Trevian Asset Management Oy is expanding its business to residential real estate. Kim Särs, LL.M., has been appointed Director of the business area to be established, and a member of the management team: “We are currently looking for projects that are seeking funding.”

Prior to joining Trevian on June 1, 2020, Kim Särs has worked at LocalTapiola Group for 14 years. Since 2014, he has served as CEO of alternative funds and before that as Real Estate Fund Director. The maximum value of the managed assets was EUR 1.8 billion.

“For me, building is part of development of society, and it needs to be diverse in terms of services. The development of meeting places, especially for young people, is not only important, but also a prerequisite for the development of creativity. There are a lot of one person households today, so small apartments are needed. There is also a need for a denser structure – living close to each other. I don’t prefer sleeping suburbs; they lack village-likeness and community. Residents’ satisfaction is also important for investors. COVID-19 proved again that people want to meet each other whenever possible, and preferably outside their own kitchen. Cities could help meet these needs, for example by providing more relaxed conditions for building smaller homes and easing parking space requirements”, says Kim Särs.

“With the new business area, Trevian wants to be involved in developing new residential areas. No way of implementation really limits us; we can build for rent or sale. New values can also be introduced into rental housing, for example green values, e.g. by using geothermal energy. Even if the apartments to build were small, their quality can be high.  We are building such a rental housing portfolio for either investors or Trevian as a residential fund. We are most interested in construction projects seeking a partner to provide financing. Our dream and goal would be to implement projects that can be described with ‘city’ and ‘green’, Särs continues.

Our own construction sets us apart from others who buy ready-made properties. Building requires the know-how we have. The projects are longer-lasting, and this makes cost and quality maintenance important, as well as local presence. This results in more profitable investments. International investors in particular require the partner to be able to make customized solutions.”