The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II will open its basement floors. The City of Milan approves two projects

The City of Milan, with a resolution proposed by Budget and Heritage Councillor Emmanuel Conte, has approved two projects that will open up the verticalization of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. In fact, the Galleria will also open up its basement floors, which to date have been unused, enclosed or partially occupied by service facilities, through an amendment to the concession contracts of Prada and Savini. The measure includes a future cabaret venue and an underground passageway that will cross the Octagon from one side to the other.

Underlying the council’s resolution is an expression of interest submitted by Prada, a historic store in the Galleria that has its sign on two stores facing each other on the Octagon. The company proposed to the Administration to annex 349.5 square meters of basement space to its stores with a view to developing a link between its Women’s and Men’s stores. The company specified that it has already obtained in-principle approval from the Cultural Heritage Superintendent’s Office for an intervention that will involve remediation and redevelopment work worth more than 3 million euros and that will be carried out in such a way as to allow the normal continuation of commercial activities in the Galleria. The City Council considered the operation “convenient and opportune,” because of the enhancement of spaces that could remain unused, the redevelopment work that Prada has committed to do, and the proposed fee of 1,410 euros per square meter.

Palazzo Marino ’s measure thus seeks to give the green light to the valorization of the basement spaces by modifying a previous resolution of direction that, in February 2021, again with a view to recovering unused spaces, planned to grant them to Feltrinelli. At the same time, the Council updates, modifies and makes feasible what was envisaged by the same resolution for the Savini restaurant: the opening of a cabaret theater, in the basement and with direct access from the premises, with adaptation works for more than 930 thousand euros. To realize it, prior to the lockdown, Savini had submitted an expression of interest for about 150 square meters underground in use by Feltrinelli, which handed them back to the municipality last year and will be attached to Savini’s spaces in a new 12-year concession agreement.

“It is a commitment and a duty,” said Councillor Conte, “to manage public assets to generate value for the community. In the municipality’s real estate assets, which include buildings with institutional, social, cultural, and historically valuable functions, the Gallery continues to prove to be unique because of its charm and the potential it still holds. Its enhancement demands of us a long-term vision and work, complex choices and openness to change and proposals for innovation and culture through private investment.”

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II will open its basement floors. The City of Milan approves two projects

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