Month: March 2018

A tower and 140 houses to relaunch an abandoned area in Milan

25 March, La Repubblica

A part of the city will be brought to new life with a tower and 140 apartments: nearly 12 thousand Sq m located north-west of the Fiera area and of City Life in Milan. The project is named “Aurora”. The works will start in April, after a period of standstill of the construction site, and will be finished by 2020. The 140 apartments are already for sale. This is a requalification intervention for the abandoned area comprised between Banca Akros and the Boccioni lyceum, and it is signed by the architecture firm Calzon and Nicolin. The project includes also a 19-storey tower featuring an interior garden and two lower buildings.

Source: La Repubblica

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Sorgente is negotiating with Kkr regarding the Enasarco funds

25 March, Milano Finanza

It’s time now for the private equity giant Kkr to negotiate for the acquisition of the Megas fund owned by Enasarco and managed by Sorgente Sgr. The negotiation started with Hines, supported by Goldman Sachs, has terminated with the rejection of the offer. Therefore, the other candidates that have manifested their interest in the initial phase of the operation have been recalled. After all, there is great interest from the market for the assets on sale since they include prime properties and iconic buildings: from Galleria Colonna, known as Galleria Alberto Sordi, in the centre of Rome, to the Rinascente building in Piazza Fiume, the only building in Rome signed by Franco Albini, or the Poste building in Carrara, built in the 30es featuring a marble façade.

The most interesting offer might have come indeed from Kkr, the American giant of alternative assets, that has recently concluded an operation in Italy with Qui! Group, a company operating in the welfare and lunch voucher sector. The Kkr real estate division is currently working on the operation with Sorgente and will submit soon an offer higher than the initial offer from Hines. Not only. Kkr might be also interested in a double operation, acquiring not only the assets of the Megas fund but also those of the Michelangelo II fund, another fund managed by Sorgente with Enarsarco as the main shareholder. Further developments of the negotiation are expected in the next days when the committees of the two funds will give the green light for the exclusive to Kkr.

The funds transfer process has become rather complicated due to the difficult relations between Sorgente and Enasarco. The former president of Enasarco, Brunetto Boco, member of the Board of Directors, has tried to take away the management of the fund to Sorgente sgr to nominate a third party, as denounced by Sorgente. The former president wanted to take decisions independently regarding the Megas fund as a subscriber, while the current regulation appoints Sorgente as the responsible party for the funds, with the power of sharing or not sharing its decisions with the other parties. The different points of view have brought to accusations that have damaged the relationship with time. Last year, with the new Board of Directors and the nomination of the new president Gianroberto Costa, the relations with Sorgente seems to have become more relaxed, reaching a proposal for the transfer of all the assets of the Megas fund in order to reduce the commitment of Enasarco in real estate. Perhaps this is a good occasion to make both parties happy. Enasarco will get the capital gain of the Megas assets which are estimated over 500 million (debt included), granting earnings to Enarsarco for 360 million and a capital gain over 30 million. The deal will be satisfying also for Sorgente since it will most likely remain the fund manager also with the new ownership. The operation is expected to be concluded before summer.

Source: Milano Finanza

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Launched the fund Antirion Megatrends with a 102 million investment

25 March, Milano Finanza

Antirion sgr, guided by Giorgio Pieralli, has concluded the acquisition of the real estate complex located in Via Darwin 20 in Milan, sold by Brioschi Sviluppo Immobiliare and Camabo for 102 million euro. The complex is composed of 15 buildings and 273 parking spaces on over 29 thousand Sq m surface. It is leased to companies operating in the education, design, communication and innovation sectors, among the names there are Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (Naba and Domus Academy), Starcom Italia, Zenith Italy, Casa.it, Ideal Standard, Doveconviene and H-Farm. The complex is the first asset of Antirion Megatrends Italia, the real estate fund entirely subscribed by the international investor Th Real Estate.

Source: Milano Finanza

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Castello Sgr in Courmayeur. Investment for 70 million

Source: Corriere del Trentino

Castello sgr has presented its new real estate project in Courmayeur. It concerns the residential complex “Le Petit Massif” composed of 22 residual units and will be finished by mid-2019. Beside the complex, there is the five-star hotel “La Massif”, with 87 rooms, whose opening is planned for Christmas 2018. The investment is worth 70 million euro and it will create over 100 new jobs in the next two/three years. “The operation that we’ve implemented in Courmayeur – states Giampiero Schiavo, Castello sgr Ceo –  is a great opportunity for the fund that we manage, and it also confirms the interest of our funds for tourism, one of the main elements for the growth.

Source: Corriere del Trentino

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Houses, the demand has restarted but prices are staying still

25 march, La Repubblica

The property market is close to a turning point, as shown by the Nomisma survey. The analysis, however, stresses how the dynamic demand is not followed by the trend of prices. Apart from the metropolitan areas, in fact, prices of transactions have even reduced (-1.2% for new properties, -2% on for old ones). One of the causes is the reduced negotiating power of families and the heavy taxation on houses that pushes savers towards other investment forms.

Source: La Repubblica

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Smaller budget to buy a house

25 March, Corriere della Sera

The budget of potential buyers is reducing. According to a survey by Tecnocasa, there is an increasing number of people wanting to spend up to a maximum of 120 thousand euro (over 27%), while the portion of people with bigger budgets has reduced. In fact, only in Milan and in Florence the majority of the people surveyed has said to be willing to spend up to 250 thousand euro.

Source: Corriere della Sera

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Boom of rents from Genoa to Naples

25 March, Corriere  della Sera

In 2017 the offer for houses for rent has grown by 10.2% compared to the previous year, exceeding 480 thousand units, as communicated by Idealista.it. The phenomenon concerns nearly all the big cities: from Genoa (+25.9%) to Naples (+24.6%), Turin (+27.8%). While Bologna has reported a decrease of 17%. Over 52 thousand accommodations have been put on the rental market In Milan and Rome.

Source: Corriere della Sera

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Fewer applications for mortgage

26 March, Corriere della Sera

The fall of mortgage applications continues, even if at an increasingly slower pace. According to Crif, in February the decrease has been equal to 6.9% in comparison with the same period of 2017, while for the first two months of the year the reduction has been of 9%. The negative result is due to the growing reduction of subrogations. Whereas the requested amount has grown by 1.3% on a yearly basis, reaching  126,063 euro.

Source: Corriere della Sera

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi