On Friday 6 February the opening ceremony at San Siro will launch the XXV Olympic Winter Games. For the first time the Olympics are spread out: Milan, Cortina, Valtellina, Val di Fiemme, Antholz, with the closing at the Arena di Verona on 22 February and the Paralympics in March.
The city has been talking about it for months, mostly about short-term rental prices. But for those who own or are looking for a home in Milan the right question is another: what will remain when the spotlights go out?
The Milan venues
- Santa Giulia
- the new ice hockey arena, in the south-east
- Assago
- the Forum, for figure skating and short track
- Rho Fiera
- ice hockey and speed skating
The Arena Santa Giulia, designed by David Chipperfield Architects, is the most important work: after the Games it will become a venue for concerts and events, and it brings with it the completion of a district awaited for twenty years.
The Porta Romana Village
The Olympic Village, built on the former Porta Romana rail yard, is perhaps the most tangible legacy. Six buildings designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill house the athletes for a few weeks and will then be converted into student housing, with about 1,700 beds, from the next academic year.
It is part of the wider regeneration of the rail yard, which includes a large park and new homes. We will come back to it: Porta Romana is one of the districts that will change most in the coming years.
The effect on short-term rentals
During the weeks of the Games, short-term rents in the central areas and near the venues more than doubled compared with an ordinary week, according to industry analyses. It is a spike, not a trend: those who bought with only these two weeks in mind may be disappointed.
Events pass. What gives homes their value is what stays: a park, a metro line, a district that is finally completed.
What to watch from here
- Santa Giulia and Rogoredo, where the arena and its related services may accelerate a transformation that has long remained unfinished.
- Porta Romana and the rail yard, with the park and the village's new life.
- The city's international reputation, which after Expo 2015 has already shown how much a major event can change the way Milan is seen abroad.
Enjoy the Games. And to those thinking about a home, one piece of advice: watch the competitions, but watch the building sites too.
Real estate advisor · Milan