Milan, 10 February 2023 – An inspection was held this morning in the presence of Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini at the worksite at the Porta Romana rail yard in Milan. The site was definitively handed over in November 2022 by FS Sistemi Urbani, lead company of the Urban Hub of Gruppo FS Italiane, to Fondo Porta Romana, promoted and managed by COIMA SGR and underwritten by Covivio, Prada Holding and by the COIMA ESG City Impact Fund partially owned by some of the leading Italian institutional investors which decided to support the national mainstreet economy (Cassa Forense (pension fund of lawyers), Cassa Nazionale Previdenza e Assistenza Dottori Commercialisti (pension fund of chartered accountants), Fondazione ENPAM, Inarcassa (pension fund of architects) – AdEPP members –, Banca Credito Cooperativo, Fondazione Cariparo, Compagnia di San Paolo).
The event was attended by Edoardo Rixi, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Giuseppe Sala, the Mayor of Milan, Giancarlo Tancredi, Milan City Councillor for Urban Regeneration, Attilio Fontana, President of the Region of Lombardy, Claudia Terzi, Lombardy Regional Councillor for Infrastructure, Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Stefano Bolognini, Lombardy Regional Councillor for City, Youth and Communication development, Alessandro Morelli, Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Renato Saccone, Prefect of Milan, Umberto Lebruto, CEO of FS Sistemi Urbani and Luca Mangia, Director of Fondo Porta Romana.
In particular, the Minister was able to visit the areas southeast of the rail yard, which will be home to the Olympic and Paralympic Village for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games 2026. At the end of the Games, the Village will be returned to the city community by being converted into Italy’s largest social student housing, with approximately 1,700 beds. The area will also be home to residences, co-working spaces, services of general interest and public spaces, with green areas set to cover about 50% of the surface area of the railway yard.
The master plan for the development of the rail yard, “Parco Romana”, was conceived by the team composed of OUTCOMIST, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, PLP Architecture, Carlo Ratti Associati and Arup, with maximum attention paid to sustainability. In fact, the project complies with nZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) requirements and involves energy supply from renewable sources.
The development of the rail yard is financed by Intesa Sanpaolo, which will support COIMA SGR, Covivio and Prada Holding S.p.A. through a “Sustainability-linked Loan” which supports this urban regeneration project following the highest ESG standards.
Porta Romana forms part of the Policy Agreement undersigned in 2017 by the Milan City Council, the Region of Lombardy and Gruppo FS Italiane (with its companies Rete Ferroviaria Italiana and FS Sistemi Urbani) for the redevelopment of seven disused rail yards (Farini, Porta Romana, Porta Genova, Greco-Breda, Lambrate, Rogoredo, San Cristoforo), which together cover an area of over one million square metres. It is a programme that will involve the city of Milan for the next 20 years, representing on of the largest urban regeneration projects in Italy and in Europe.
Construction work on the Olympic Village began in January, following planning permission obtained by Milan City Council in December 2022. At the same time, Fondo Porta Romana awarded the contract to a group of businesses made up of Impresa CEV SpA, Grassi e Crespi Srl and Milani S.p.A., which recently completed the erection of the fourth crane. With this assignment and with the completion of the reclamation and excavation works by the end of February, thanks to the effective collaboration of all of the bodies in charge, the works have already reached the goals set out in the timetable four months ahead of schedule, with the aim of delivering the Olympic Village to Fondazione Milano Cortina by the set deadline of July 2025.
The project continues in compliance with the schedule set out in the Policy Agreement and with the virtuous collaboration of the Region of Lombardy, Milan City Council, Fondazione Milano Cortina, the Ministry for Sport, the Ministry for Universities and Research, and Gruppo FS Italiane.
