AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets has completed the acquisition of a Grade-A office building, located in the dynamic Bicocca business district of Northern Milan, Italy, for c. €44m. Acquired from Effepi Real Estate, a fund managed by Generali Real Estate - Società di Gestione del Risparmio, the acquisition was made on behalf of the Columbus Real Estate Euro Fund, a closed-ended real estate fund. The building is let to a global financial institution.
Extensively refurbished in 2015, the building comprises six above-ground floors, with 215 internal and external parking spaces. The energy efficient and modern property includes flexible floor plates and benefits from good natural light and a large courtyard.
Bicocca is one of the fastest growing consolidated business districts in Milan, having undergone a significant urban regeneration programme delivering more than 1.3m m² of new space, in addition to improved vehicular and public transport infrastructure providing excellent occupier accessibility. The new M5 underground line connects the building to Milan’s city centre, just six kilometres away, and the area is also close to the ring roads that provide quick access to the Turin-Venice motorway and Linate airport.
Alessio Lucentini, Head of Asset Management & Transactions in Italy at AXA IM - Real Assets, commented: “This acquisition is evidence of our belief in the positive long-term prospects of Milan’s occupational market as well as the supportive underlying investment fundamentals of the wider Italian property sector. The combination of the attractive income profile and strong reversionary rental potential makes the property a natural fit into our diversified Italian portfolio, in what is one of the best performing regions of Italy.”
