The buildings in the Reidi Quarter date back to the 1870s. The vigorous construction of the quarter began immediately after Tallinn was connected to the Russian railway network, with railway branches also extending to the port. More land was claimed from the waterfront wetlands by filling in soil, and in a short time a large number of stone and wooden warehouses were built there. Several well-known businesses from the era established their warehouses in the area: department store J. Chr. Koch, Thomas Clayhills & Sons, Gahlnbäck, Mayer. This decade also saw the completion of all the large limestone storehouse buildings with stone roofs that give the quarter its character today and are well known under the name of Kochi Aidad / Koch Storehouses. 

The road leading to the harbor in the same direction as Lootsi Street, adjacent to the block, was then called Strasse Neu Holland, i.e. New Holland Street, apparently inspired by the landscape, which with its many drainage and transport channels resembled the Dutch port city.

In World War II, the buildings were somewhat damaged, but compared to the total destruction of the rest of the port area, the Koch storehouses remained relatively intact. Today, this is the only part of the port area where the pre-World War II port milieu has been preserved.

After Estonia regained its independence in 1991, the historical buildings were in a rather sad condition, dirty and partially dilapidated for about ten years. Only at the beginning of the 2000s, the buildings were reconstructed and adapted into a trade and service centre, which they still function as today.

The facade of one of the buildings located on the Reidi Quarter property is under national heritage protection as a cultural monument, although not only the facade of the building is valuable, but rather the entire complex of Koch Storehouse buildings in its unique integrity, conveying the milieu of the port area of ​​the time.

In addition to the already excavated wreck, there is another shipwreck at the property, under protection as an archaeological monument, which was discovered already back in 2009. Based on research at the time, the wreck was dated to 1210-1280 AD, making it one of the oldest shipwrecks ever found.

During the construction works of the Reid Quarter, a shipwreck was discovered during excavations, the existence of which was not known until that moment. The georadar survey made before the excavations did not provide a complete picture, but during the excavations, a shipwreck more than 24 metres long, 9 metres wide and 4 metres high was discovered. It is a cog, “koge” in Estonian – a single-masted merchant ship common in the Baltic and North Seas during the Middle Ages. The only way to retrieve the ship from between the old stone walls was to cut it into four different pieces and lift the pieces out by crane.

Built from thick oak planks, the Reidi Quarter cog is one of the largest medieval shipwrecks that has come to light in Europe and the largest find in the world in the last century. The cog was built around the 1360s, sunk in either 1375 or 1376, and was found approximately 1.5 metres below the ground. The excavations lasted for three months, and in the course of it, finds were discovered daily that offered exciting discoveries to the archaeologists. Several unique finds also came to light, among them, for example, the oldest known gyrocompass and tar with the remains of ship rats, which indicates that the sinking of the ship must have happened very suddenly.

The shipwreck found during the construction works of the Reidi Quarter is larger than the wrecks of the Maasilinna ship and the Kadrioru shipwreck found earlier and already exhibited at the Estonian Maritime Museum – this cog is also better preserved. The Lootsi cog wreck turned a new page in maritime history, telling a lot about life seven centuries ago, being, in addition to its museum value, an irreplaceable source of history – for example, regarding mediaeval shipbuilding and sea trade.

Lootsi cog was transported to the Estonian Maritime Museum, where it is conserved and then exhibited in the museum’s ship hall.

At the heart of the Reidi Quarter stands a 4-story commercial building – Koge House – with 1,775 m2 of commercial space on the ground floor. The remaining three floors are for office space – the net area of ​​each floor being 1400 m2. The closed net area of ​​the entire building is 7199 m2.

There are 39 parking spaces for cars and 23 parking spaces for bicycles in the underground parking lot of the building. In addition, there is space for 40 cars and 34 bicycles in the outdoor parking lot. There is also a separate changing room for cyclists with showers and wardrobes.

The charm of Reidi Quarter stems from its unique historical surroundings in the immediate vicinity of the cruise port, and being extremely easily accessible by both car, public transport, bikes and scooters via Reidi tee and Ahtri and Jõe streets. 

Experience energy savings in the A-energy class house in winter with district heating and in summer with innovative district cooling – this also significantly reduces noise and air pollution in the surroundings. In summer, cleverly designed solar screens allow to save even more on energy costs, significantly reducing the cooling capacity needed in the hot season.

In the spring of 2023, a dashing modern 4-story A-energy class building with commercial, service and office spaces will be completed in the area between Reidi tee and the harbor in the center of Tallinn.

The future of the Reidi Quarter is exciting and open to developments: during the implementation of the Tallinn Old Port development plan, initiated by the Port of Tallinn and commissioned from the world-famous architecture office Zaha Hadid Architects, a pedestrian promenade is planned next to the historic buildings.