Bicocca Village

Location
Milan
Italy

Sector
Retail

Size
42,100 sqm

Under Management
2016 – 2020

Transforming an ailing commercial centre and creating value through innovative renovation and extension plans and skilful interaction with local authorities

Leucosia served as the asset manager for Bicocca Village, a shopping center located in Milan that was purchased in 2014 as part of a larger retail portfolio by an institutional investor. 

Through our complete renovation and extension plan, we successfully repositioned the center towards an entertainment and leisure-led retail offering, which resulted in leasing up and re-gearing almost 20,000 sqm of space. This brought the occupancy rate to 92%, increased the GRI by €2.4m, and doubled the underlying NOI during our tenure.

Our activities included rebranding the center, securing and extending leases with the main anchors, and complementing the offer. We obtained a food license, allowing us to anchor the center to a major Italian supermarket chain, and we increased the food offering with the addition of two new food courts, an external one, and a food kiosk area. Moreover, we extended the center, securing permits for additional 2,300 sqm to create the first electronic karting facility in Milan.

Additionally, a new communal park was opened in front of the asset, providing access and visibility and driving additional footfall. The park also offered a public green area and basketball and skate courts to the neighbourhood.

Our team identified innovative concepts to reposition the asset and collaborated with local authorities to implement them in a way that benefited the community while creating value for the investor. We efficiently oversaw the execution of the renovation plan, managed relationships with tenants and contractors, monitored the extensive capex plan, and ultimately restructured the investment's holding structure and refinanced it, optimizing distributions and returns for the investor.