MILAN — The CityLife Shopping District is opening in Milan on Thursday.
Spanning over a surface of 344,445 square feet, this is the biggest urban shopping center in Italy.
Located in the heart of the CityLife real estate project — which occupies a portion of the old Fiera Milano fairground in the city’s Northwestern area and was designed by famous architects Zaha Hadid, Arata Isozaki and Daniel Libeskind — the new shopping district counts 100 retail spaces.
Developed through a partnership between CityLife’s owner Gruppo Generali, which invested a sum of 2 billion euros in the CityLife project, and retail real estate specialist Sonae Sierra, CityLife Shopping District is expected to serve a neighborhood with a catchment area of 700,000 people.
“We are proud to announce the opening of CityLife Shopping District, the most innovative Italian commercial district which through its offering of food, fashion and entertainment will perfectly integrate with the residential areas and the three towers designed by extraordinary architects [Hadid, Isozaki and Libeskind,]” said CityLife chief executive officer Armando Borghi. “CityLife truly represents an example of how Milan managed to regenerate itself, offering a new urban lifestyle.”
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Along with a wide offering of restaurants, bars and supermarkets, as well as technology-focused shops, such as the first Italian Huawei boutique, CityLife Shopping Districts host a range of fashion stores of international labels positioned in the premium segment of the market. They include Adidas, Calvin Klein, Guess, Levi’s, Max & Co., OVS, Pandora, SuperDry, Timberland and Tommy Hilfiger, among others.
According to Borghi, fashion accounts between 35 and 40 percent of the shopping center’s offering, which also includes a seven-room movie theater.
As Milan municipality’s deputy mayor of Labour, Business, Human Resources and Economic Development Cristina Tajani pointed out, the new retail development will employ about 800 people.