US asset management giant Blackstone is understood to have entered exclusive talks with a consortium of ultra high-net-worth individuals led by Mediobanca on the sale of a 13,800 m2 newly-renovated trophy asset in the heart of Milan.
Mediobanca emerged ahead of investors including Deka, Allianz and PGIM in the race to buy the historic Post Building in Milan’s central Piazza Cordusio. PropertyEU understands that Blackstone and its local partner Kryalos sgr are negotiating a sale for a price of €247 mln, setting a new record yield of 2.8% for the Italian market.
The deal, which was tipped by PropertyEU last month, was one of the first major commercial real estate transaction mandates in the city since the Covid-19 outbreak.
Known as Project Ermes, the sale is being managed by advisors Eastdil Secured and Vitale. It is expected to complete before the end of the year.
Blackstone bought the asset vacant back in 2015 and has since completed an extensive €23 mln refurbishment programme of both the internal and external areas to restore the property’s historical magnificence, repositioning the asset to the highest quality standards. The complex, which houses Starbucks’s first Italian store and the first Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Europe, meets the latest environmental and energy consumption requirements with a LEED Gold certification.
Located at Via Cordusio 1-3 in the centre of Milan’s financial district on a 100% freehold site, the complex was originally built in 1901, and listed as a historical landmark in 1962. It initially housed the Milan stock exchange then the headquarters of Poste Italiane until 2011.
Current major tenants in the nearly-fully-let building include JP Morgan, Natwest and Kryalos, which all use it as their Italian headquarter location. Blackstone’s Italian partner and occupier in the building Kryalos Sgr oversaw the asset management and renovation of the asset.
