A site outside Milan purchased by UK fund manager three months ago offers potential for 60,000m2 offices and is served by Malpensa airport train services
UK fund manager Doughty Hanson has unveiled details of its ambitious Italian €235m (L455bn) development programme.
In one of Italy’s biggest-ever single asset deals, it acquired a site for up to 60,000m2 of offices at Viale Bodio 33-39. The fund manager acquired the site around three months ago from Alcatel for the €155m (L300bn) project. Formerly occupied by a mixture of offices and production space, the plot is located on the northern edge of Milan’s city centre, along the main entrance road to the city from the north. The property is served by the Milan metro and the express train to Malpensa airport, the only stop between the airport and the city centre.
According to Doughty Hanson managing director Marc Mogull: “We took this unique site with the clear objective of providing class A space for corporates seeking to expand in Milan.” There are a couple of buildings on site that can be readily refurbished to be delivered by the middle of next year, added Mogull. In total, the fund manager will develop up to six separate properties on the site, speculatively or as build-to-suit. Rental levels will be influenced by the specification of each building; no rents are being fixed as yet, but in and around Milan prime levels range up to €258 (L700,000) per m2 a year.
Doughty Hanson is also developing a build-to-suit headquarters for L’Oreal in central Milan in a €80m (L400bn) project. According to Mogull: “We feel the Italian market is very attractive for the kind of work we are doing. The market is desperately short of modern high-quality office space.
“We certainly want to do more in this arena this year, and are actively pursuing other sites in Italy. Doughty Hanson has had an office in Milan for several years enabling us to respond quickly and our product is sought after by institutional investors.”
