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The City of Milan puts “Pirellino” for sale aiming at the creation of an office district

16 September, Il Giornale

After five years, it’s back where it started. In 2013 the City of Milan tried to sell the building full of asbestos in Via Pirelli 39, better known as “Pirellino”. The Pisapia administration published a call for tenders to find a building to buy in exchange for the one in Via Pirelli which required 60 million euro for its overhaul. The only offer came from Hines Italia which also implemented the project in Porta Nuova, but the offer was deemed unacceptable, as it proposed a building of smaller dimensions than requested plus an area with building rights. Former Vice Mayor Ada Lucia De Cesaris commented annoyed that “it’s always surprising how companies make offers out of context and unacceptable for us”. The City moved 900 employees to a building in Via Bernina, paying a rent of some millions of euro a year. In the meanwhile, works slowly started, but the only significant thing was converging the strategically positioned building with billboards to earn from advertising.

Now, the City Council is back at studying a way to get rid of Pirellino, for the matter has been included in the Dup, the common document of economic planning, and was discussed by the Council. The solution implies “the direct sale, transfer to a fund or revaluation of the building in Via Pirelli 39” to implement the Federal Building, an office gathering all the city’s public offices and services. The City Council for the Land Registry Roberto Tasca has been working for months to create a disposal plan for the offices in the city centre and create an “office district” in the old train station of Farini or Romana. The portfolio also includes the welfare office in Largo Treves. Moreover, the Councillor commented that “the third and fourth floors in Via Larga don’t offer anymore the optimal working conditions, even though the Vital Records office will not be put for sales, but it can be revaluated somehow”. The point is that “the final balance for the City must be zero. There must be a compensation for what we sell and what we build. We’ll see very soon whether the plan is feasible, and if the council is willing to implement it”.

Concerning Pirellino, Councillor Fabrizio De Pasquale remarks that “we’ve wasted a lot of time and money for a wrong decision taken by the Pisapia administration. Let’s sell at auction with no favours to developers”. He also insisted on a regulation for the efficient management of the historical and prestigious buildings in the old town, starting from those in Galleria. “I agree with that. We’re working on it”, said Tasca.

Source: Il Giornale