US privately-held developer-investor Hines and Cale Street, an opportunistic investment and finance firm backed by the Kuwait Investment Office, have kicked off the development of Milan's largest urban regeneration project following a sale of the development lot to the newly-established Union 0 real estate fund.
The fund, which is managed by Prelios Sgr and invested by Hines and Cale Street, has a €500 mln warchest to spend in the development of MilanSesto, a major mixed-use project on a site spanning 1.5 million m2 in Sesto San Giovanni near Milan. The site was formerly home to the historical Falck Steelworks.
Hines and Cale Street are launching the development of the first private lot covering 250,000 m2. As well as Hines being an investor for the development of Unione 0, Hines Italy acts as strategic advisor and development manager for the whole MilanoSesto project, while Prelios, in addition to managing the Unione 0 fund, acts as asset and project manager for the entire real estate initiative.
As part of the masterplan by international architecture firm Foster + Partners, the project consists of seven buildings office space, a hotel, affordable housing units and student housing facilities. Investment promised in the area includes a new railway station to be built by June 2023 and a medical complex called the City of Health & Research formed by the Besta Neurological Institute and Tumor Institute.
Excavation works will begin in January, with construction works set to get under way by the end of the year.
'We believe firmly in this highly strategic and challenging project and, from the very first day, our team has been working with great passion and determination towards the goal of creating a new sustainable and inclusive urban hub, to reactivate a territory that has lain dormant for decades for the benefit of all communities. The presence of Intesa Sanpaolo, right from the early stages of the project, has been essential in ensuring that this important opportunity for the whole country, could be put into practice,' commented Mario Abbadessa, senior managing director & country head at Hines Italy.
He added: 'As well as reaffirming our long-term industrial approach and consolidating our living strategy, we intend for MilanoSesto to serve as a shining example of our new concept of sustainable real estate development for the long term, with the goal of providing a positive impact at a local and national level.'
Cale Street, led by former Goldman banker Ed Siskind, has been busy this year, with deals in France, Boston in the US and in London where the firm stepped in to refinance a new hotel in Marylebone.
