The flourishing of spaces dedicated to food in all its forms affects many areas of the Lombard city. There are areas such as the Via Borsieri area where the food component accounts for 47% of the total number of businesses. Here the rent of a retail space costs 600-800 euros per square meter per year. The same goes for via Broletto where the segment lost 38% of the total with rents ranging from 600 to one thousand euros per square meter per year. The catering component in Corso Como accounts for 37%, where rents rise to 700-1,200 euros per square meter per year. In the street the employment rate is 95% and the over shift is 7%. According to the detailed Engel & Völkers report, food rises to 80% of the total spaces in Piazza Gae Aulenti, where the occupancy rate of the spaces stops at 90 percent. Over 30% the presence of food is also in corso Magenta, corso Garibaldi and corso di Porta Ticinese. The presence is very low on the other hand in via Montenapoleone where rents travel on average between 6 thousand and 10 thousand euros per square meter.
«The relaunch of the Lombard capital has begun to bear fruit following important changes that have affected the main urban nodes – say the company -. Among these we remember Piazza Cordusio, with The Medelan, an important redevelopment project of the former Unicredit headquarters on an area of 50 thousand square meters – of which 13 thousand will be destined for the retail world, about 2 thousand for Food & Beverage and the remaining for offices -, and with Palazzo Venezia, whose redevelopment includes 2 thousand square meters of retail, some boutiques and a luxury hotel ». Other important regeneration projects are located between via Palestro and corso Venezia with Palazzo Bernasconi, which will host the new concept of the Cipriani Group, in Corso Matteotti with The Icon (thousands of square meters for retail) and the nearby Garage Traversi and in corso Venezia 11 , in the former seat of the Archbishop, where a new hotel will be built.
«The biggest penalties concerned high-end retail due to the absence of tourism and foreign“ big spenders ”- says Andrea Ponti, head of Retail Services at Engel & Völkers Commercial Milan -. While at the city level Milan is leading the trends, the neighboring centers such as Bergamo, Brescia and Monza are experiencing the centrifugal motion that comes from the capital ».
In general, rents have dropped in the Quadrilatero, except in via Montenapoleone or Sant’Andrea, where transactions are few. Some routes suffer in particular, such as via Manzoni.
There are big differences between the various sectors. «If a space is attractive for the fashion segment, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is attractive for food – says Sinisi -. For the latter sector there are different elements to consider: first of all, the space may not have the technical requirements, the rent may be too high and still the property may not want to rent to food brands “.