UK-listed property company Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) has inked a deal for the regeneration of the Farini railway yard in Milan, including the Via Valtellina site, into a significant mixed use development via its Olimpia Investment Fund.
The Via Valtellina site was acquired in January 2016 by KWE's Olimpia Investment Fund as part of a portfolio of nine offices fully let to the Italian government.
'This agreement represents an important milestone to the exciting regeneration of the Via Valtellina site given its strategic positioning as a gateway to the larger Farini railway yard regeneration,' commented Mary Ricks, president and CEO of Kennedy Wilson Europe. 'Creating mixed-use residential and commercial space at Via Valtellina alongside the Olimpia Investment Fund’s partners will unlock the potential of this significant urban site in Milan’s city centre, within close proximity to the established Porta Nuova district.'
Via Valtellina comprises 26,300 m2 of existing offices let to the Italian government’s Customs and Finance ministries, with a term to expiry of 5.5 years. Plans for the regeneration of this gateway site include a target gross buildable area of 49,000 m2 of mixed-use residential and commercial space, subject to planning permission.
'We are very proud to have participated to one of the main urban regeneration plans of the Italian real estate landscape improving the relationship with one of the main international investors, demonstrating the confidence of international investors in the Italian real estate market,' added Giuseppe Oriani, managing director of Savills Investment Management SGR.
The agreement is an Accordo di Programma (AdP) between local authorities and other public administrations coordinating shared public infrastructure work activity.
It is part of a wider regeneration plan for disused railway yards in Milan, with an aggregate land area of 1.25 million m2, of which 200,000 m2 will be used to serve the railway line, with more than 675,000 m2 to be used for open green spaces and civic areas.
KWE’s Italian portfolio, including the Via Valtellina site in Milan, is held by an Italian closed-end real estate alternative investment fund named Olimpia Investment Fund, which is wholly-owned by KWE and managed by Savills Investment Management.
Advisers to the Olimpia Investment fund were DLA Piper, Perelli Consulting and Caputo Partnership.
