Patrizia Immobilien is taking over the management of a €180m real estate fund on behalf of Italian bank foundation Fondazione Cariverona.

The German-headquartered company said it had been hired with a view to “unlocking value” from the fund’s assets and “recycling capital to deliver a more diversified” portfolio.

Dario Strano and Pierluigi Scialanga, who joined Patrizia Italy in September 2018, are to manage the mandate.

The fund, Verona Property, includes four assets encompassing about 40,000sqm in the historical centre of Verona, as well as a development project on the periphery of the city, Ex Magazzini Generali.

The development will create 44,000sqm of new offices and retail space with high-profile tenants GlaxoSmithKline, Unicredit and Eataly already secured.

The main assets in the centre of Verona include Via Giuseppe Garibaldi 1 and 2, which together total 30,000sqm.

An asset management plan is in place to convert the office space into a complex with hotels, serviced apartments and the first congress centre in Verona.

Strano said: “This fund management mandate demonstrates Patrizia’s ability to attract institutional investors in new territories thanks to the combination of our outstanding global reputation and on-the-ground expertise.

“Italy is very much a growth platform for Patrizia, and we look forward to leveraging our local knowledge and experience across the real estate spectrum on behalf of Italian and pan-European real estate investors looking to invest here.”

Patrizia manages around €700 million of real estate assets in Italy.