At the end of the nineteenth century, plots of land were rented from the Böhle estate, situated in the parish of Helsinki, in order to ease the housing shortage with the construction of suburban housing. The area was conveniently located: the city could be reached by train, because of the close proximity of the Fredriksberg halt, which was opened to the public in 1890. The owner of the Böhle estate, Julius Wilhelm Kronqvist, let the first villa plots out in 1894-5. The leasing of plots reached a peak in 1899-1900 when Kronqvist let a total of 59 plots.

     The Senate, the main governing council at the time, decided to annex Pasila (Böhle) to the city of Helsinki in 1912. From the point of view of the decision-makers, Pasila meant new and available land for housing, an expansion area for the city. In 1918 the architect Eliel Saarinen proposed in his Greater Helsinki plan that the main railway station should be moved to Pasila, and in the following decades many suggestions were made about what to do with Pasila, some wishing to reserve it for housing, others for business.