Twelve military barracks, parts of two former military areas with a total of 600,000 m[sup]2[/sup] of space, were returned last Friday to the city of Bologna, northern Italy. Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi signed the transferral of properties to the city during a ceremony held in the city's Town Hall. 'The largest (real estate) operation since the war', commented Deputy Minister for Economy Vincenzo Visco.
Twelve military barracks, parts of two former military areas with a total of 600,000 m2 of space, were returned last Friday to the city of Bologna, northern Italy. Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi signed the transferral of properties to the city during a ceremony held in the city's Town Hall. 'The largest (real estate) operation since the war', commented Deputy Minister for Economy Vincenzo Visco.
The move is part of the Valore Paese plan, a major urban renewal project under which ex-Defence Ministry properties are to be handed over to the National Agency for Public Property. 'This is a project that should have begun ten years ago,' said Visco, 'These large properties have been empty for decades.' The twelve Bologna assets will be converted into shopping centres, parking lots, schools, hotels and libraries thorough public-private partnerships allowing private investors to compete for the urban renewal contracts.
Bologna will be amongst the first cities to transform the assets into public properties, but the plan involves all Italian cities. 'We started with Bologna because there were projects ready here,' added Visco. On completion of the process the government will have EUR 4 bn worth of properties to be transferred to Italy's Demanio, the agency managing state-owned properties.