A new Real Estate Specialist, Heidi Dufva, started at the AYY central office in April.
Dufva has studied in the Aalto University school of Engineering, majoring in Real Estate Economics, graduating as a Master of Engineering in 2017. For the last four and a half years she has worked at Cushman & Wakefield real estate consultants, mainly in the field of real estate evaluations.
” The challenging nature and diversity of the task combined with the student community surroundings intrigued me in the position,” Dufva states. She has been actively involved in the teekkari community during her studies.
Dufva is glad that the new job brings her back to Otaniemi.
” I haven’t lived in Otaniemi nor studied there full-time for a few years, so this feels like coming back home. Otaniemi was a huge part of my life during my study days.”
The task of the Real Estate Specialist is a new one in the Student Union. The job entails developing the real estate apartments of the Student Union. Currently AYY has about 2,500 rental apartments, and more will be constructed in the future.
” The aim is to develop the best student life in the world also in living. The job includes analysis and reports on the finances of the buildings, zoning, planning, and meeting with members of different stakeholder groups,” Dufva sums up.
The upcoming Student Center project will tally up a lot of work, when it goes through. The aim of the project is to construct a meeting spot, serving all student organizations of the Aalto community, right in the middle of Otaniemi.
” The project will last for years before it’s complete. The aim is that the Real Estate Specialist is involved in the project from start to finish and will thus bring continuity to it when the AYY Board changes.”
The most challenging part of the work is how success in the job requires the combining the interests of the students with real estate business. The aim is to combine wishes and means of action in the best conceivable way.
” Everything is new and interesting,” Dufva says with a laugh.” The best part is that my job feels like it truly has meaning. This job is done to ensure that students can enjoy the best and most comfortable apartments possible.”