Quilvest Real Estate, the real estate investment arm of Quilvest Private Equity, acting through an Italian real estate alternative investment fund managed by Kryalos SGR, has acquired a 12,600 m² (135,625 ft²) Barilla Center in Parma. The purchase price has not been disclosed.
Designed by Renzo Piano, the Barilla Center compromises 8,000 m² of retail space, a 7-screen cinema, and a 570-space car park. The centre, which has opened in 2003, was developed on a site previously occupied by a pasta factory and houses the only multiplex within Parma’s city centre.
Patrick Laroche, CIO Europe & Asia at Quilvest Real Estate, commented: “We are pleased to announce our first direct acquisition of Italian real estate. The Barilla Center benefits from strong fundamentals, such as its proximity to the city centre, its open promenade design and its retail offer which is linked to a strong leisure component. We believe that the potential of the Barilla Center could be further enhanced through an optimisation of its merchandising mix, a refurbishment of certain elements of the centre and a general strengthening of the asset’s rental income. Quilvest intends to pursue further investments in Italian real estate as part of its pan-European acquisition strategy. We continue to actively deploy capital in properties that offer value-add potential.”
In the last twelve months, Quilvest Real Estate has made investments in France (office: peri-Defense), Germany (retail: North Rhine Westphalia) and the US (office: Philadelphia, industrial: Colorado, healthcare: Oregon).
