Promos and Pillarstone have launched the first projects under the “Retail & Leisure” fund

The two transactions comprise 25,000 square metres of GLA and 24 shops in Florence, and 22,000 square metres and 60 shops in Bergamo, enabling the ‘Shopping Centres & Retail Parks’ asset class within the Promos portfolio to exceed 200,000 square metres of gross lettable area under management.

According to Filippo Maffioli, the company’s chief executive, this initiative is designed ‘to restore value to underperforming properties through structured regeneration projects. ‘The work that lies ahead for us on assets such as San Donato in Florence and Continente in Mapello,’ he continues, ‘is emblematic of the approach we wish to adopt: multi-year development plans and targeted investments to revitalise and strengthen their appeal and role within the local area. We are convinced that the platform will continue to grow until it becomes a strategic driver of development in the coming years’.

An approach which, according to Gaudenzio Bonaldo Gregori, Chairman and CEO of Pillarstone, is borne out by the ‘growing appeal of the regenerated retail asset class, which has demonstrated more resilient performance than expected and returns in line with expectations. Further investments have already been identified to support the fund’s initiatives, demonstrating the effectiveness of the industrial approach and the platform’s ability to attract new capital, thereby generating value in the medium to long term for all stakeholders involved’.