Tag: research

Tecnopolo in Bologna can resume. Investments for 60 million

03 September, Il Sole 24 Ore

After ten years between red tape and court trials, the Council of State has eventually released the block on the construction for Tecnopolo in Bologna, the last piece of the ten infrastructures dedicated to industrial research and technology that will make the region of Emilia-Romagna the centre of innovation at national level. After the regional administrative court, also the highest administrative authority has rejected the appeal from the company Pessina Costruzioni Spa, which ranked second in the public tender to obtain the executive project as well as 56 million euro to implement the first buildings of the research hub. The facility will raise in place of the former tobacco factory between Via Stalingrado and Via Ferrarese, not far from the Bologna trade fair.

The verdict came on 27th August after a two-month wait, as the hearing by the fourth section took place on 3rd May and 45 days had already passed. The Region of Emilia-Romagna as well as the in-house company Finanziaria Bologna Metropolitana and Minelli Impresa  – the company from Monopoli (Bari)  that won the bid two years ago – had been waiting for this verdict. The group Pessina appealed against the three entities first with the regional administrative court, but it lost the cause in November 2017. It then appealed to the higher court, which confirmed the fairness of the regional administration.

“These are good news, although our program had a completely different schedule and the public tender was published according to the old regulation – explains the Regional Councillor for the production activities, Palma Costi –. What matters now is accelerating with the program to complete the executive plan as quickly as possible and launching the construction of an infrastructure that will enhance the scientific vocation of our territory. The new hub will attract highly-skilled professionals also from abroad, without considering the significant positive impact it will have on the industrial sector in terms of revenue”. The verdict concerns only the first lot of Tecnopolo. The European data centre for climate research will also raise in the same area, occupying another lot to be completed by summer 2019 and expected to be fully operational by 2020, as agreed with 22 European partners.

It’s not exactly a success, considering that the first framework agreement between the City of Bologna, the Province of Bologna and the Region of Emilia-Romagna regarding Tecnopolo dates back to 2006 and the public tender was published on February 2011. Besides, once the executive plan is approved, it will take other three years to complete the works. “We’re ready to go back to work right away. The staff and the means have been ready for a long time. It would have been great if we had able to resume the works a couple of months ago, rather than being stuck for administrative reasons. Such a dealy is also due to the Italian tendency of appealing when you don’t win a tender without taking responsibility for the damages caused to the people and the country because of the standstill”, commented the managers from Manelli. The company staffs about sixty people and has already implemented the Cnr offices, the new student halls and the Hera Ambiente headquarters in Bologna.

The 100 thousand Sq m area was designed in the Forties by Pierluigi Nervi. Today, the area is neglected and destined to become (with a 200-million-euro investment) the heart of technology and big data, the last of ten hubs spread across 20 locations. The site has been selected by the Region to develop research and technologic activities to support the regional manufacturing sector. The network, which is composed of 96 facilities (82 laboratories and 14 innovation centres) capillary distributed, is partly funded by the Por Fesr European funds. The EU funded the project with 252 million euro, split between 112 million during the first planning phase (2007-2013) and 140 million during the second phase (2014- 2020).

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Milan: a university campus in the Expo area. The university gave the green light to Lendlease

02 August, Corriere della Sera

The Australian Lendlease will implement the campus of Università Statale in the Expo area, receiving from the university 20 million a year for the next 30 years. The Board of Directors of the university approved yesterday the transfer of 18 thousand students and 500 between technical and administrative staff from Città Studi to a 250-thousand-Sq m area in Arexpo by 2022. The project is ambitious, although very debated, and worth 335 million and more than the double in a long-term perspective. The details of the plan are strictly confidential. Before the newly-elected rector Elio Franzini will succeed to Gianluca Vago on 30th September, the Board of Directors gave the approval to Lendlease.

The Australian developer will be in charge of the construction of the campus. The company had already been appointed for the implementation of the headquarters that will accommodate several biotechnology multinationals on the land that hosted the Expo in 2015 with a 99-year lease and a turnover valued around 4 billion euro.

Yesterday the Board of Directors of the university (composed of the rector, the deputy rector, three professors, four external members and two student representatives) solved the issue around the funding for the project. The estimated cost for the project is 335 million euro. 135 million euro will be made available through public funding. Of the remainder, 200 million, 58 will come from Università Statale, while Lendlease will fund the other 142. This type of operation is called project financing, where the company co-funds the implementation of the campus receiving in exchange 20 million euro for 30 years from the university. The amount includes the lease of the spaces (around 8.5 million), the costs of services (approximately 8 million) and the energy supply (about 3.5 million. In this way, the university commits to subscribe a sale agreement for the land which will become effective once the campus will be completed and tested. The Revenue Agency will set the selling price.

The faculties that will move from Città Studi are Chemistry, Medicine, Mathematics, Agricultural Economics, Political and Environmental Sciences, Nutrition, Physics, Earth Sciences and Information Technology. The outgoing rector Gianluca Vago launched the project in 2015, and it was approved by the Board of Directors and the Academic Senate on 6th March (25 in favour and 7 against). However, the project has been strongly debated within the university. The new campus is one of the key points in the electoral campaign for the new rector which ended on 28th June with the election of the philosopher Elio Franzini, who has always been very cautious regarding the project, especially for what concerns funding.

The alternative to the project financing would be a loan from the European Investment Bank (BEI) followed by a public tender. But the Board of Directors preferred the first option: “After some amendments, the comparative analysis carried out together with our external advisors identified the project financing with Lendlease as the most convenient option”. In any case, a public tender will be launched to see if there is another company with a better offer, although Lendlease will have the right to relaunch. Therefore, the destiny of the campus is quite clear. The research centre Human Technopole and the hospital Galeazzi, several multinationals headquarters and a big part will also be implemented in the Expo area.

Source: Corriere della Sera

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Milan. Launched San Raffaele 2: “We’ll move the university.”

08 July, Corriere della Sera

The San Raffaele University Vita Salute might be transferred in five years to the former Falck steelworks in Sesto San Giovanni. “The Ministry of Education has just given us 160 places for our students instead of the previous 115. The State believes in us. We want to give our students the best since the space where they currently are is rather small”.

Last Wednesday, during a meeting with the representatives from healthcare, politics and finance, Paolo Rotelli presented his expansion plans for Gruppo San Donato, which manages 18 hospitals and acquired San Raffaele in 2012. Not only: Rotelli has just been appointed president of the University’s Board of Directors. The plan consists in buying, for an amount allegedly around 30 million euro, lands for over 75 thousand Sq m where the steelworks used to be. The area is now property of the company MilanoSesto guided by Davide Bizzi.

Ville Turro, a branch of San Raffaele with nearly 400 beds, will move to the same area. The facility includes the neuroscience, urology, radiology and infective diseases departments, along with several doctor’s practices and laboratories. Ville Turro is currently located in seven buildings in the park in Via Stamira D’Ancona 20. The project is assigned to the architect Mario Cucinella, and it proceeds along with the reclamation works in the area while waiting for the construction permit. According to the plans of Milano Sesto, the works should conclude by autumn 2019. Velca is the special purpose company that entered the agreement. The Rotelli family could have withdrawn from the agreement until the 5th of July. Since this didn’t happen, the contract will be signed shortly. Rotelli said: “We’ll go ahead with the project. We know what we want: San Raffaele 2”.

The University Vita Salute includes the faculty of medicine (featuring programs in dentistry and physiotherapy as well), psychology and philosophy. Rotelli has in mind to use shuttles to link Sesto with the San Raffaele hospital. He said: “The only thing impossible to move is the research department”. He insists: “From a clinic and educational point of view, San Raffaele is one of the best universities. Our students can learn from the best professors in Italy. But we could do even better. We must go from a traditional way of teaching to a more digitalised and interactive one. The idea is to copy, Italian regulations permitting, the more modern and digitalised campuses in Europe, like the one in Delft in the Netherlands”. The professors, however, are sceptical about the idea of separating the academic teaching from the clinical one. The primary clinical specialisations, in fact, are in Via Olgettina, where the hospital and the university are currently located. After all, students should attend lectures and at the same time practising, while professors have to teach and carry out surgeries. Anyway, the project is only at the beginning.

Source: Corriere della Sera

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Zambon doubles its hi-tech hub in Bresso

07 April, Il Sole 24 Ore

“We’ve given the company the possibility to evolve”. Let’s start from here, the words of the Mayor of Bresso Ugo Vecchiarelli. They sound obvious only in the appearance, but they’re quite refreshing in a country dominated by bureaucracy and by administrations blocking projects rather than favouring them. Here, in the immediate Milan hinterland, it’s happening quite the opposite, with modifications to the urban planning that have accompanied the growth of Zambon, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Italy. Zambon has chosen Bresso not only to establish its headquarters but also to create here a research campus, following the open innovation trend. The campus is now doubling its space with a project worth 56 million euro to create new spaces and laboratories. The project consists of two towers designed by Michele De Lucchi that will be completed by 2020, bringing the staff to 1200 people. The objective is to continue the work started in the recent years that had led to the creation of several start-ups in the life sciences sector, such as the listed company Molmed. “The future is here – says the president of the group Elena Zambon- Actually, this is also the present, which sees us working to create a bridge between research and practical applications. Bringing our projects and ideas on the market means giving more possibilities to patients to improve the quality of their lives”.

Established 112 years ago, Zambon has revenues for 700 million euro and 2800 employees. The group carried out a radical revolution in 1962, transferring its headquarters from Vicenza to Milan, betting on the most international of the Italian cities. Very clever choice indeed, since the export constitutes the 80% of the revenues. Thanks to the following modifications to the urban planning, the company also added a campus for applied research (OpenZone), that hosts also a company accelerator to enables companies operating in the life sciences sector to grow.

The investment in Bresso will bring the total space to 37 thousand Sq m and is part of the currently very dynamic scene of Milan with Human Technopole (in the former Expo area), and Città della Salute (in Sesto San Giovanni), and other two projects also related to urban renovation and healthcare. The projects complete each other, operating in different but related sectors: research on genome and big data in the Expo area, clinic research and the union between the oncology institute and the Besta neurologic institute, applied research and technology in Bresso. “I believe that cities – says the Mayor of Milano Giuseppe Sala – will be the engines for progress in this century. If we look at the new companies settling here, the universities, the tourists visiting the city, there is no doubt that Milan is the perfect example of how things are supposed to be. It’s absolutely legitimate to relaunch the South of the country and to speak about social benefits for the poorest families. But we mustn’t stop this locomotive, it would be a huge mistake”. The area concerned by the construction works faces Parco Nord, just outside Milan, and it will include also common and meeting spaces. The architect De Lucchi explains: “Because great ideas come from aggregation spaces”.

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Approved the contract with Lendlease

03 March, Avvenire

Now it’s official: Arexpo, the company owning the land that hosted the world expo, has signed the contract with Lendlease for the creation of the masterplan, as well as the implementation and management of the project that sees the creation of a scientific and research hub. The land will be leased to the company for 99 years.

The contract was signed after the Regional Administrative Court rejected the appeals from Stam Europe and Vitali for the annulment of the tender won by Lendlease.

“The signing of the framework contract with Lendlease -said the Arexpo Ceo Giuseppe Bonomi – is a turning point for the Science, Knowledge and Innovation Park that we’re going to implement in Arexpo. This is a result of a public tender never done before in Italy that made possible to select with only one bid the company that will be the advisor for the masterplan and the developer of the project through a lease contract for the surface”. “The masterplan presented by the team led by Lendlease – he continues – implies the creation of an actual city that unites the scientific, academic and environmental aspects with attention on the quality of life of the people that are going to work there”.

“We’re happy to be chosen as Arexpo partners for such an innovative project – comments the Lendlease Italian Ceo, Andrea Ruckstuhl – We’re ready to start working on it, applying our global experience on a local level to plan the first phase of this exciting project for the city of Milan, for Italy and for all Europe”.

It’s still not known how much Arexpo will earn from the operation, even though the rumours talk about amounts between 650 and 700 million euro. Basically, a science park will raise on the land that was previously occupied by the world expo. In the north side of Expo, there will be the campus of the scientific departments of Università Statale of Milan, as well as the new hospital Galeazzi (whose works will start in about one month) and the Human Technopole, already operational in the former Palazzo Italia, where 30 researchers are already working. Whereas in the south side there will be private companies. There are already 60 companies interested in the location. Many of these are operating in the life science sector: biology, medicine, and pharmaceuticals.

Source: Avvenire

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Finance and science, Milan attracts capitals from all over the world

06 December, La Repubblica

Even the Financial Times has bet on Milan, telling how “the financial capital of Italy” is shining again. Not only. That “show of power and wealth”, wrote the newspaper, “was not only seen for the first time in a traditionally very discreet city”, but also “the sign of the relaunch of post-Brexit Europe. There was the conviction that the exit of London would have attracted here the international finance. But, as admitted by the Mayor Beppe Sala, the presence of Goldman Sachs doesn’t compensate the loss of Ema. Still, this may be the first piece of a wider economic and financial picture: summoned by the tax incentives planned by the Government to attract “human capital” in Milan, other international companies and banks may move here, or at least this is the hope of the City of Milan. The magnet has already worked in other parts. Starting from a giant such as Starbucks that decided to land in Italy in Piazza Cordusio, to the manifestations of interest of pharmaceutical companies aiming at the ex-Expo area, till Ibm and Bayer.

There are big companies that have already settled in Milan. Like Amazon, that has just opened its new headquarters in Monte Grappa. There are those who will open soon. Because 2018 will be the year of Starbucks, which is building its biggest shop in Europe in the former Post building. It will be the year of Apple, which is transforming an old cinema into a megastore designed by Norman Foster.

Big international brands. Considerable foreign investments. Like those that are moving the real estate sector. It’s the case of a company such as LendLease, with a project for 50 billion dollars all over the world and 12 thousand employees, that decided to add Milan to its global map spanning from London and Los Angeles to Sidney and Singapore. The multinational will carry forward the requalification project of Santa Giulia, as well as the reconversion plan for the science district in the former Expo area. “At the moment – explains Andrea Ruckstuhl from LendLease – Milan ticks all the boxes to be considered among the big European cities”. Then, all the hopes and ambitions are directed here. Like in the one million Sq m surface in Rho-Pero that is going to be transformed into a laboratory, between research and self-driving cars. Something that will help the city forgetting the grief for Ema, according to the Minister Maurizio Martina. “The post-Expo project is more important”, according to the Government. With Ema went to Amsterdam, Milan is intentioned to attract the big pharmaceuticals companies. And if the manifestations of interest for Arexpo will translate into contracts, the dream might come true. With the arrival of giants such as Bayer, Novartis, Sanofi, Glaxo, Celgeni. Besides other international technology companies like Abb, Bosch and Ibm.

Still, there is potential for the after-Brexit. For instance, for the start-ups that decide to leave London, there are cities that are thriving at the moment. “From Berlin to Dublin”, says Doris Messina from the management of the group Sella. Still, Milan too could be the right candidate if” it will be capable of simplifying, making easy for companies to settle there”. Also because “this is the financial city of Italy and innovation starts from here”. They’ve been the first to believe in this. SellaLab, the bank’s innovative platform, and the smart working space Copernico have recently opened in Isola the Fintech district. A hub gathering start-ups, entrepreneurs, institutions, financial companies, investors and universities. Following the model of London and Paris, the objective is to attract investments and speed up the growth of the financial and technology sectors. For the moment, they have collected about thirty companies. “The fact of having one single location to refer to – explains Messina – has already started to attract international companies”. There is already Moneyfarm, the digital company managing savings born in Milan with a second office in London. What will happen when London will exit the Union?

 

Source: La Repubblica

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Campus, amusement park, hotel. The Arab investors relaunch the operation

04 December, Corriere della Sera

The construction sites might start next year when the reclamation works will be completed on the whole former Falck area. MilanoSesto, owned by the entrepreneur Davide Bizzi, archived the works for Città della Salute, owner of the land in Sesto San Giovanni, is now working at phase 2 of the project. On one side there are the construction and infrastructure works of the Unione area to support the cancer and neurology institute Besta, part of Città della Salute: roads, a train station, a creche and hotels. On the other hand, there is the implementation of the mega commercial district featuring sports areas and a leisure park, to be completed by 2021. A project that is worth a total investment of 3.6 billion.

In the meanwhile, the corporate structure of MilanoSesto is consolidating, seeing Bizzi as a shareholder for 75% and the remaining 25% held by Al Hokair, owned by the brothers Fawaz, Salman and Abdul Majeed. The brothers invested one year ago in Sesto San Giovanni to relaunch an area of 1.4 million Sq m. The Saudi investors have used the option to reach 50% of the capital, setting at the same level as Bizzi & partners, confirming their strong commitment, also financial, for a series of projects that will take place over a 10-15 years period.

But it is also possible that other players might be involved in the investments: companies operating in healthcare, hospitality, and in services in general, ideally at an international level. These companies, in fact, might be willing to have a presence in the biggest development and requalification area in Europe, 1.5 times the surface of Expo. MilanoSesto will create several companies to work on the single projects which will get the capitals from the new investors.

The first chapter of the works will be launched by MilanoSesto after the summer and it will include the train station of Sesto San Giovanni. The project is signed by the superstar Renzo Piano. Other projects are the subsidized construction for the workers of the two hospitals, two hotels and a public park for 450 thousand Sq m. Then, we must add the new roads for the neighbourhood. The total investment in the Unione area amounts to 350 million for the real estate development, plus other 120 for the necessary reclamation works.

Another construction site will open simultaneously called “Concordia”, named after the old Falck factory. Here, the Al Hokair brothers will play again the main role, after having bought from MilanoSesto 80 million Sq m through Falcon Malls and, after the agreement with Bizzi, one year ago, for investments in Milan (Cascina Merlata) and in Turin. The group operates in Saudi Arabia 16 centres under the name of Arabian Centers. In Sesto San Giovanni, the group will build a commercial hub (2 billion for the development of the project) included in a wider project concerning residences, cultural centres and restaurants.

Source: Corriere della Sera

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Cutting the ribbon for the Techpark in Bolzano

18 October, Il Sole 24 Ore

The official opening of the Techpark in Bolzano is for Friday, the project is promoted and funded by the Autonomous Province to develop the food technologies, automation, and environmental technologies industries, featuring labs and research centres. There are already 25 start-ups, 30 technology companies, and 500 researchers working in the complex.

The spaces originate from the broad industrial area previously belonging to Alumix, built during the fascist period, and for their planning, it was launched in 2007 an international tender which was won last year by the British firm Chapman Taylor together with the Bolzano-based studio Cleaa, founded by Claudio Lucchin. The architect has followed all the phases of the project and their implementation, both as planner and as director. The element characterising the complex is the “black monolith” accommodating the research centres.

 

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

30 pharmaceutical companies invest in the Pharma Valley in Tuscany, aiming at logistics and vaccines

18 October, Business Insider Italia

The last one in chronological order is Eli Lilly that signed an agreement for a 100 million euro investment in Sesto Fiorentino. But the list of pharmaceutical companies with facilities in Tuscany is very long.

It’s not by chance that the district between Florence, Lucca, Pisa, and Siena, together with Lazio and Piedmont is the jewel of the Italian pharmaceutics, being Italy the second manufacturer (30 billion per year, second only to Germany) and first for per capita production. In 2015, the Region governed by Enrico Rossi launched the idea to create Pharma Valley which will take shape in 2018 aiming mostly at logistics and vaccine development.

The project is inspired by Biopolis in Singapore. It gathers giants of the pharmaceutical sector such as Gsk, Eli Lilly, Molteni, Menarini, Kedrion, Sebia, Abiogen and it’s aimed at attracting investments, doing high-level research, and creating new jobs, all through the collaboration between companies and regional, national, and European financing.

The Pharma Valley project originates in a fertile terrain where many multinationals set their headquarters, invest and hire personnel (11 thousand new employees in 2017). In the last few days, Eli Lilly, the American multinational present in 130 countries all over the world with 15 production sites and 40 thousand employees – has signed with the Region of Tuscany an agreement for the extension of its hi-tech plant in Sesto Fiorentino to produce insulin, taking in this way the area currently occupied by the high school Enriques Agnoletti which will move to another site.

Menarini too has settled down in Tuscany. It’s the first Italian pharmaceutical company with 17 thousand employees and a turnover of 3.5 billion in 2016. In the last few years, the company has invested a lot to add to the traditional pharmaceuticals the oncologic research, the diagnostic, and the use of new technologies to produce vaccines.

It’s indeed in the vaccines sector, where the British Gsk is also active, where Pharma Valley will make its first steps. The Region of Tuscany assures that the first facilities will be ready by 2018 and they will be designed by multinationals, political authorities, research centres, and Universities of Tuscany cooperating together to find out the best ways to develop the sector.

In Siena will rise the new facility for vaccines research and production which will also have a strategic role in case of national emergency. The project starts from a pre-existing facility and it will get the investments from the Region and the Government to create a hub with public functions.

The second objective for 2018 is the creation of two logistical hubs to serve the pharmaceutical multinationals operating in Tuscany since they’re currently shipping by air from Rome to Milan. In Livorno, it was identified a new platform for sea shipment, while Empoli will accommodate a dispatching hub to receive the raw materials coming from abroad and necessary for production. The Region confirms that the project is proceeding quickly: after having defined the governance, the investments will start.

The necessity of a logistics hub was one of the first requests advanced to multinationals. In fact, the vocation of Tuscany for export is very strong: companies export pharmaceuticals for 1.2 billion yearly, more than 60% of the production which is assessed for a 2 billion euro turnover and equal to 64% of the total export in hi-tech of the region. And the advance of the medicines Made in Tuscany doesn’t seem to stop. In the first six months of 2017, the exportation of the region has registered +8.8% compared to the same period of last year. Pharmaceuticals is the sector with the best results, having recorded a spike of 98.1%, almost doubling the performance of 2016.

 

Source: Business Insider Italia (by Marta Panicucci)

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi