Israeli company plans four-million-euro resort in Kinnula

Kinnula municipality in Central Finland plans to sell 14 undeveloped properties to Israeli limited company Dror Bonim Atid for 135,000 euros, Yle reports. The company plans to build a year-round resort at the Saarensalmi holiday-home area on the shore of Lake Kivijärvi.

The resort is planned to include 14 wooden accommodation units, lakeside saunas, a spa and a restaurant. The estimated investment is about four million euros, financed in stages through the company’s profits and capital, as well as Israeli financing partners.

The resort would be marketed mainly to residents of the European Union. Company owner and chief executive Elon Ben Abu told Yle by email that the project is expected to take about five years.

Ben Abu said he first visited Kinnula on his honeymoon and has since returned to Finland several times. He said Finland had become like a second home to him and his family. He has also bought a holiday home in the nearby municipality of Pihtipudas with his spouse, Talia.

Kinnula has tried to sell plots at Saarensalmi for many years. The area was made ready for sale in 2009, but most of the plots remain unsold.

The properties being offered cover a combined area of about 22,000 square metres. The sale would also include a separate area of approximately 2.3 hectares located between the properties.

According to a draft sale agreement, the company must build winter-use holiday homes on at least eight of the plots within three years after the municipal council’s approval of the sale becomes legally valid. Each building must have at least 100 square metres of heated floor area.

If the construction obligation is only partly fulfilled, the company would have to pay Kinnula a contractual penalty of 60,000 euros. If it is not fulfilled at all, the municipality would have the right to cancel the sale.

Kinnula’s head of vitality and development, Aki Suhonen, said Ben Abu expressed interest in Saarensalmi last winter. Suhonen then visited the area with him, and the two continued discussions by email and in meetings.

The municipal executive board will consider the sale on Thursday, after which it will proceed to the municipal council.

The sale also requires a permit from the Ministry of Defence because the buyer is based outside the European Union and European Economic Area. The ministry assesses factors including the property’s location, the credibility of the submitted information and the applicant’s background.

A permit can be rejected if the purchase is considered to threaten national security, hinder the organisation of national defence or if the property is not suitable for its stated purpose.

Rickard Lindholm, an expert at the Ministry of Defence, commented on the matter in general terms. He said applications from Israeli citizens do not generally involve security risks.

The Act on Certain Permits for the Acquisition of Real Estate has been in force since 2020. Since then, the Ministry of Defence has rejected four applications in which the applicant was an Israeli citizen. Overall, the ministry has issued 63 negative permit decisions and 4,733 positive ones.

Both Suhonen and Ben Abu expect the permit application to be approved.