The area, south of the city center, is already a tech hub and is adjacent to Tallinn Airport and the site of the Rail Baltica northern terminus.

According to the developers, Mainor Ülemiste, in the coming decade nearly 15 million people are expected to pass through the Ülemiste area, including via the airport and the Rail Baltica station, called the Linda Terminal.

Mainor Ülemiste Management Board Chairman Sten Pärnits noted that Rail Baltica will also unify international and local rail lines, trams, buses and the airport into a single integrated zone.

"Together with the Rail Baltica Linda terminal, the Ülemiste keskus [shopping mall] and Tallinn Airport, we are creating an area that will no longer be merely a transport hub, but a 'city within a city' – a modern, pedestrian-friendly and international downtown with dense public space," Pärnits said.

The development will help attract more investment to Estonia, he added.

"States and cities compete fiercely for investments, foreign visitors, conferences, talent and headquarters. Both Tallinn and Estonia have set a goal of attracting more investments and foreign visitors, and an attractive gateway with high-quality urban space and the conference center we are developing will contribute to that," Pärnits went on.

Tallinn Airport Management Board Chair Riivo Tuvike noted that in the future, passengers who begin their journey with Rail Baltica and continue from Tallinn Airport, itself due for a €75-million facelift, will be able to check in their baggage at the starting point of their trip, which will then be transported directly to the final destination.

There are also plans to build a residential area in the district consisting four apartment buildings, and a total of 400 individual apartments.

According to plans, by 2030, 25,000 people are expected to live, study and work in the district.

Pärnits said that as of today, based on the labor tax take, Ülemiste City is already Estonia's third-largest "economic city," with the total turnover from firms based there reaching nearly three billion euros in 2024.

Other planned developments include a park roughly the size of Freedom Square in central Tallinn, a 4,700-square-meter high-rise conference center expected to generate €140 million in tax revenues the state once up and running, and a spa complex of up to 6,000 square meters, due to open in 2028.

Tallinn Deputy Mayor Tiit Terik (Center) stated that the city also wants a 10,000-seat multifunctional hall, ideally in Ülemiste, though this depends on a financing decision from the state and the Estonian Olympic Committee (EOK).

Airport development to cost 75 million

Tallinn Airport has forecast that by 2030, passenger numbers will rise from the current 3.5 million to five million or more. Even aside from the Ülemiste development, plans to enlarge and upgrade the airport, costing an estimated €75 million, were unveiled late last year.

"The terminal expansion is necessary to ensure smooth, safe and high-quality passenger service over the next 10 to 15 years," Tuvike added.

Innovative self-service solutions such as easier baggage pick up and drop off – this aspect will be in place from the second half of this year – are due to be put in place, as well as automated boarding gates.

The build period is scheduled to last until 2028, across four phases, in part to minimize disruption.

Tuvike said the comprehensive development of the area will also create a favorable environment for attracting international companies to Estonia.

The airport's real estate, located on properties around the runway, is also primarily aimed at companies directly orindirectly connected to aviation.

Meanwhile Rail Baltica Estonia CEO Anvar Salomets said the high-speed line will bring approximately two million additional passengers to Estonia per year.

The Linda terminal, to be completed in 2028, will provide the capital with a building that connects the transport hub and offers convenient onward travel to the next destination.

"Construction of the Ülemiste terminal is progressing according to plan, and it is already observable how the future transport hub is taking shape step by step – in the summer of 2025, [train operator] Elron put the first waiting platforms of the new station into use," said Salomets. "By the end of this year, the concrete framework of the building will be completed, after which both the scale and architectural form of the station will be clearly perceptible," he added.

Zaha Hadid Architects designed the Linda Terminal, and have also been awarded the tender for the planned high-rise conference center building.

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