Last year, an additional two stories were constructed on the Turu tänav and Soola tänav sides of the Kvartal commercial and retail building in the center of Tartu. The shopping center has long expressed the desire to also add another two floors to the Aleksandri tänav side of the building.

The City of Tartu has now initiated a detailed planning process that will allow the addition of two more stories on the Aleksandri tänav side of the building.

"This detailed plan will enable the Kvartal shopping mall to add two more floors on the Aleksandri tänav side," said Jiri Tintera, Tartu city architect.

According to Tintera, the additional floors will be used as office, retail and service space.

Residents of Aleksandri 1, which is next door to the Kvartal mall, have already previously objected to the extension, arguing that it would worsen their lighting conditions.

In a written comment sent to ERR, the residents of the Aleksandri 1 housing association have also now expressed their disapproval of the general deterioration of the living environment. The residents still fear that the extension would reduce the amount of light reaching their building.

They also claim food delivery trucks and spa clients are frequently seen parking on the sidewalk in front of the entrances to their building.

Tintera, however, believes those concerns are unfounded.

"In the framework of the detailed planning, the developer also conducted very thorough studies of their lighting conditions, and the size of this additional construction work has been chosen in a way whereby its impact would be minimal," Tintera said.

The detailed plan for the proposed extension of the Kvartal mall will go to a public consultation on July 30.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook, Bluesky and X and never miss an update!