Procedure for the redevelopment and renewal of Portello-Fieramilanocity presented

The call for expressions of interest will be published tomorrow, October 15. The winning proposal to complete the project by April 2018, which will remain the property of Fondazione Fiera Milano, will be selected by June 2015.                                                                                                              

Milan, 14 October 2014 – This morning the call for expressions of interest was presented for the renewal and redevelopment of Pavilions 1 and 2 at Fieramilanocity’s Portello complex, occupying a surface area of almost 30,500 sq.m.

The procedure is contained in the Fiera Framework Agreement, which was signed by all the parties concerned on 16 June at the premises of the Lombardy Regional Government.

The scope and contents of the call were illustrated by Benito Benedini, Chairman and CEO of Fondazione Fiera Milano,  Ada Lucia De Cesaris, Deputy Mayor of Milan, and Corrado Peraboni, Managing Director of Fondazione Fiera Milano.

This morning’s presentation gave way to a redevelopment project to give the city a better facility by April 2018, repurposing part of the pavilions designed by Mario Bellini and inaugurated at the end of 1997.

The call -- presented this morning -- will allow the proposals submitted to be judged and the details of the next step to be established by January 2015. Fondazione Fiera Milano intends using this procedure to attract the creative talents that can undertake to renew an already noteworthy facility. The proposals will be judged on the basis of their creative genius that belongs first and foremost to Italian architects and professionals.

“Today marks the official launch – explained Fondazione Fiera Milano Chairman and CEO Benito Benedini – of a project to complete the development of the Fiera Milano City Complex, which began in 2004 when two thirds of the plot of land occupied by Fiera Milano were transferred to CityLife and with the construction of the largest and most modern congress center in Europe, MiCo, Milano Congressi. The pavilions at Portello with their “tympanum”, designed by the architect Bellini in the 90’s, are the calling card to our city for people arriving from the north west; this is also why we want to give Milan a facility that will host functions which are compatible with its exhibition-congress activity, including public services that reinforce Milan’s historical and urban offerings. The facility will obviously remain the property of Fondazione Fiera Milano”.

“This part of the city can become a new center in Milan – explained the Deputy Mayor with a proxy for Urban Planning Ada Lucia De Cesaris – a more livable and populated center with spaces that are modern, first-rate and accessible to the public. As a result, the renewal of Fiera’s pavilions is essential in completing the redevelopment of the area, by identifying new functions, that can also be for the general public – sports events, recreational activities, entertainment, cultural events, and services – to cater to the needs of a city that is being given a makeover by the City Council”.

The ideal functions that could be hosted at the new complex include hotels and sports, entertainment, cultural and recreational facilities.

No industries or hypermarkets are allowed.