With the adoption yesterday by the Council of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia of the public initiative implementation plan (Paip) called “Polo della Moda”, developed by Max Mara Fashion Group and by the Municipality itself, the purchase of the former Mancasale fairs by the Reggio Emilia fashion giant. After the rumors of recent months, the hypothesis of a real doubling between the Calatrava bridges of the Max Mara Group is therefore confirmed. In fact, the new Max Mara Fashion Group Fashion Center will be built in the area of the former Reggio Emilia Fairs, characterized by an urban regeneration intervention, which will redevelop the entire area. The construction of a Group management center is planned which will host over 800 people with offices, design spaces, services and show rooms, as well as two warehouses capable of satisfying Max Mara’s logistical needs.
The investment, estimated at over 100 million euros, is functional to the further development of the Group, guaranteeing its consolidation in Reggio Emilia, alongside the Max Mara Campus which has been operational for years in the northern area of the city. For the purchase by Max Mara of the former trade fair area – bought at auction in 2019 by the Correggio entrepreneur Giorgio Bosi (CEO of Pibiplast Group) with an offer of 6 million 850,000 euros, beating the consortium of entrepreneurs Reggio Emilia Terminal One – in recent months there was talk of a figure close to 11 million.
The ‘planning’ phase – which in addition to the Municipality will also involve the Province, the Emilia-Romagna Region and the competent bodies in environmental and safety matters – should end in the first half of 2025, then there is talk of another three years for the realization of the jobs.
REASONS FOR THE INDUSTRIAL CHOICE – Max Mara Fashion Group has recently rationalized its industrial structure by identifying two companies, Max Mara Srl and Dedimax Srl, as the entities to which to delegate the industrial and commercial development of its brands.
Max Mara Srl, which deals with “premium” brands, has long had its own Campus in via Giulia Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, while Dedimax Srl, which handles the brands that target the “contemporary” segment, carries out its activities on different sites, located throughout the territory, which no longer have the dimensions and functional characteristics that would guarantee the further development of the company. Hence the need for a new space, more suitable for Dedimax Srl, capable of hosting both the warehouses and the management center in a single site.
The proximity of this new Fashion Center to the Mediopadana High Speed Station and the motorway toll booth, as well as to the Max Mara campus, will make it possible to reduce connection times with the most important Italian and foreign cities, determining further synergies between the two group companies in numerous areas, starting from that of product research and development, forming an international center of excellence in the fashion field.
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTERVENTION – The area subject to the redevelopment has a surface area of 13 hectares and – after the complete demolition of the existing structures – its regeneration is envisaged, through the identification of a green filter band along Via Filangieri with the planting of over 2,000 trees and shrubs, a new access on Via Moro and the creation of three different volumes intended for the Group’s management and logistics functions, for a built area of approximately 47 thousand square metres.
Overall, therefore, the new intervention is configured as a substantial doubling of the current Max Mara campus.
The regeneration intervention involves complete environmental reclamation and the subsequent construction of modern and functional buildings, self-sufficient from an energy point of view and immersed in important green spaces.
ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION – The architectural design of the buildings, which will host the management and production functions, will be selected on the basis of an international competition, which has reached its final phase and will conclude by mid-July.
As has already happened in the case of the Via Giulia Maramotti Campus, awarded the Best Office Architecture award by the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects, the objective is to regenerate the former trade fair area, giving it a strong qualitative character and maintaining a high profile and representative for the city of Reggio Emilia.
REQUALIFICATION WORKS OUTSIDE THE DISTRICT – The urban regeneration intervention relating to the Fashion Center will also bring with it the redevelopment and strengthening of the public lighting of via Filangeri, the safe cycle-pedestrian connection between the former trade fair area and the Max Mara campus in west of the Calatrava Bridges, as well as the redevelopment of Via Majorana, with the creation of protected cycle and pedestrian paths, a new public lighting network and tree-lined strips on the sides of the road.
PLAN APPROVAL PROCESS – The public initiative implementation plan (Paip) called “Polo della Moda”, developed by Max Mara Fashion Group and the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, was adopted by the Municipal Council yesterday.
The procedure for its definitive approval now includes the publication of the documents for the collection of the Observations and the subsequent preparation of the related counterarguments for adoption by the City Council, scheduled for the end of the year.
Subsequently, the Large Area Urban Planning Committee (Cuav) will be involved, which includes the Municipality of Reggio Emilia itself, the Province and the Emilia-Romagna Region, as well as the bodies responsible for environmental and safety matters, for the definitive approval of the Plan, expected by the first half of 2025.
From the approval of the Plan, the regeneration works of the area will begin and will have an indicative duration of three years.
NOT JUST THE EX FAIRS AREA – Max Mara Fashion Group has undertaken two further urban regeneration initiatives.
The first, on an abandoned area, acquiring the former Cantina di San Maurizio, next to an important production plant of the Group specialized in the manufacturing of coats and jackets. The regeneration intervention of the area will lead to the creation of the “Max Mara University of Fashion Professions”, i.e. a permanent training center, as well as a place of research and development, with a view to collaboration with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and the local high schools.
The second, in the Mancasale Industrial Park, in via Calvi di Coenzo, with the regeneration of areas occupied by abandoned buildings, is aimed at creating a technologically advanced logistics structure for the Group company dedicated to the production of knitwear and jersey.
