Milan Expo 2015 starts looking to post-fair future

Arexpo chair hopes AC Milan still interested in new stadium

(ANSA) - Milan, July 18 - A tender will be approved Friday to find a developer for the Milan Expo 2015 site after the close of the food-themed world fair, which runs May 1 - October 31 2015. Milan Expo 2015 is focused on food security, sustainable practices, nutrition - and dishing out the best of global culinary cultures.

Organizers hope to attract 20 million visitors, so the 100-hectare site is being endowed with infrastructure to accommodate large flows of people. Local government is keen on a sports-oriented redevelopment of the site after Expo's conclusion. The company controlled by local government that owns the site, Arexpo, welcomed Serie A soccer team AC Milan's expression of interest in March to build a new stadium there.

Milan currently pay the local council to use the San Siro Stadium, which they share with city rivals Inter, on match days. Lombardy Governor Roberto Maroni said in March he was also in talks with the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) to propose a special sports enclave for the site. Publication of the call for bids is expected by the end of July or the beginning of August. The maximum bid expected for the site near Milan's massive Rho Pero exhibition centre is 330 million euros. ''Beyond this figure would have been unthinkable for the market,'' said Luciano Pilotti, chairman of Arexpo. Areaxpo is jointly controlled by the city of Milan, the region of Lombardy, with a 34.67% share each, and by the Fondazione Fiera di Milano - owner of Milan's exhibition centre - which has a 27.66% stake. The province of Milan owns 2%, and the city of Rho holds 1%.

Pilotti said the necessary documents for the tender are ready and just awaiting a decision on the minimum bid. ''It shouldn't be very far off from the one indicated on our feasibility study,'' said Pilotti - or 313 million euros. ''(Bids) could go up to 320-330 million euros, but not over that because it would become unthinkable for the market''.

Pilotti called the proposal to build a new soccer stadium for the Milan's Serie A team AC Milan ''an interesting and important hypothesis for the development of the area''. AC Milan was the only entity to meet the Arexpo's requirements in an expression of interest for a March 2014 deadline. ''AC Milan S.p.A. has expressed an interest in the construction of a European model football stadium, with a capacity for 60,000 spectators,'' said Arexpo Managing Director Cecilia Felicetti at the time. ''We hope that the company confirms its interest,'' said Pilotti. The governor of Lombardy in March asked CONI President Giovanni Malago' to come up with a proposal for a 'sports citadel' after the world fair is dismantled. ''Today marks the first step for the post-Expo future,'' said Maroni at a conference on sports initiatives to support Milan Expo 2015 in March. Work on the future development must begin by June 30, 2016.