SEB Asset Management obtained planning permission to convert the 13-storey Torre Quadra building in Sesto San Giovanni, a suburb in the north-east of Milan. The real estate asset manager is planning to revitalize the 1992 office property and convert it into a hotel for the future new tenant, the B&B hotel chain, with which it has signed a 20-year lease. The opening of the B&B Hotel, which is part of open-ended real estate fund SEB ImmoInvest’s portfolio, is planned for spring 2014. The future hotel will offer over 190 rooms on around 5,000 m² of space, plus 50 underground parking spaces. The building in Via E. Marelli has good transport links. The underground is on the doorstep, while Milan’s city center and the airport are only a few minutes away by car.
B&B Hotel, the third-largest budget hotel group in France, has over 270 hotels in France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic. The hotel group applies the same location concept in every country: it chooses good locations in the immediate vicinity of the city center and good transport links. In the next five years, it is planning to open 40 more hotels in Italy.
“We are very pleased to be able to rapidly implement the lease signed with the B&B hotel group by starting construction work. The conversion project and the new long-term lease have allowed us to successfully reposition the property in what has been a difficult office market environment in recent years”, said Axel Kraus, the SEB Asset Management managing director responsible for real estate asset management.
A number of conditions must be met for an office building to be repurposed as a hotel – not every building can be converted. In the case of Torre Quadra, key success parameters such as the property’s location and quality, and the expertise of the partners involved, were met.
The 54-meter tall Torre Quadra building is an unmissable city landmark: its unusual architecture and design dominate the cityscape. The striking building has an external support structure consisting of four pillars that are anchored to the load-bearing element, the reinforced concrete core, making the tower appear to float. The building’s external appearance will remain intact.
Source: SEB Asset Management
