In 2011, the city of Helsinki, Finland, commissioned the foundation to study the feasibility of constructing a museum there. The feasibility study recommended building the museum in Helsinki's South Harbor. In 2012, the proposal was rejected by the city board "over concerns about the cost and a proposed merger with the Helsinki Art Museum". In 2013, the foundation made a revised proposal that provideed that the project's architect would be chosen through an international competition. The proposal anticipated that the Guggenheim's licensing fee would be funded by private sources, with decreased operating costs and increased revenues; one journalist called the Foundation's estimates "speculative at best". In 2014, the city council approved an international architecture competition to solicit designs for the museum, and the following year, a design was chosen. In 2016 the Helsinki city council voted to reject the plan.