The “Unione 0” real estate fund, managed by Prelios SGR and in which Hines and Cale Street are investors, has entered into a binding agreement with Accor, a world leader in the hospitality sector, for the 25-year lease – via the group's partner, Amapa – of the hotel to be constructed on the Unione 0 private lot at MilanoSesto, the biggest urban regeneration project in Italy and one of the largest in Europe.
As well as being an investor in Unione 0 alongside Cale Street, Hines Italy is strategic advisor and development manager of the whole MilanoSesto project. The Prelios Group acts as manager of the Unione 0 fund and asset and project manager of the overall initiative.
The new building will stand alongside the new Sesto San Giovanni station, designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop firm together with Ottavio Di Blasi & Partners, and near the future City of Health and Research (Città della Salute e della Ricerca), a public-initiative clinical research and training healthcare complex, entirely funded by the Italian state and the Lombardy Region, which will be home to the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano (the National Cancer Institute) and the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta (“Carlo Besta” Neurological Institute), centers of excellence expected to receive approximately 4,000 visitors each day.
The hotel will have 301 rooms that will operate under two Accor Group hotel brands: 204 rooms will be managed by Novotel, offering short-stay accommodation, while a total of 97 serviced apartments will be reserved for Adagio Aparthotels, and used as medium-long stay accommodation. The planned functional mix will make it possible to cater to various types of hospitality requirements, meeting the needs of both leisure and business customers, mainly interested in typical hotel-type accommodation, and families of patients at the City of Health and Research, who may require more extended stays. The building consists of 19 floors, spanning approximately 16,000 m2 above ground, and has been designed by international architecture and design firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV) in accordance with the highest environmental sustainability and energy efficiency standards, with the aim of achieving LEED Gold certification.