Italy's CDP is joining forces with Banca Finint and US group Hines to launch a new affordable senior housing fund which will focus on the creation of 360 new housing units in Milan's Ex Trotto site.
The vehicle, managed by Prelios SGR, marks CDP's first foray into the senior housing market.
Ex Trotto is a former horse racing facility closed in 2012 in the San Siro district of Milan. The initiative, which is promoted by Hines as co-investor and development manager, will see the development of 360 senior housing units for rent at subsidized rent and related dedicated services.
The operation is part of a broader, 130,000 m2 urban and social regeneration project unveiled by Hines in September 2023.
CDP Real Asset SGR, acting on behalf of the National Social Housing Fund (FNAS), has committed €50 mln to the new fund, which will also be open to subscriptions by additional investors.
Alongside CDR RA, the Affordable Senior Housing ITA Fund has received a €15 mln commitment from Banca Finint's Integrated Urban Plans Thematic Fund (PUI Fund), launched by the Ministry of the Interior and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The Fund aims to invest €250 mln for the construction of an innovative model that integrates residential services with both social and health services (for example a medical-nursing facility) and intergenerational social services (physical activity area, art workshops) dedicated to the well-being of future residents and also open to the neighborhood.
Construction work is expected to start before the end of 2025 with delivery planned for 2027.
'With this second investment program dedicated to self-sufficient over-65s, we are giving further impetus to an asset class that is not yet consolidated in Italy: the third of the 3 ESSEs of social housing – social, student and senior housing – which are at the heart of our business. At the same time – through the enhancement of an “urban void” – we are contributing to the urban regeneration process of Milan,' commented Giancarlo Scotti, CEO of CDP Real asset SGR.
Mario Abbadessa, senior managing director and country head of Hines in Italy, commented: 'The strategic partnership with high-profile institutional investors such as CDP Real Asset and Gruppo Banca Finint, who are putting capital to work with a long-term horizon, represents an important recognition of the social value of the sustainable and innovative urban development model that distinguishes Ex Trotto Milano. A new important phase opens for this project that aims to provide a concrete response to the needs of the city of Milan, starting from the need to expand the housing offer at affordable rents, taking into account the demographic trends that are profoundly transforming contemporary society.'
