Along the street are located (from south to north): the Stockmann department store, the Rautatalo building, Domus Litonii, the World Trade Center and the Citycenter Mall, nicknamed "Makkaratalo" (lit.

The idea to extend the street through a city block to ease traffic congestion between Esplanadi park and the central railway station was first proposed by Helsinki Building Supplies, Ltd. (Finnish: Helsingin Rakennuskauppa Oy) in 1913.

[2] In 1916, the businessman Allan Hjelt and the architect Eliel Saarinen started warming up the idea about punching the street through a city block.

[2] In the end of the year 1919 the city and the company Ab Centralgatan Oy started negotiations about moving the street as a direct continuation of Hakasalmenkatu.

So the street was built as a direct continuation of Hakasalmenkatu all the way up to Pohjoisesplanadi according to the zoning plan approved in 1920, also giving the Stockmann block its current form.