CampusX open new Milan hub as Italy’s PBSA market booms

The student housing market in Italy has become more competitive, as domestic as well as international companies create product to meet growing demand and address current shortages.

CampusX, an Italian company that specialises in student housing, announced yesterday it is developing a new hub in Milan, which will be the biggest in the city and the second-biggest in Italy after Tor Vergata in Rome, which is another CampusX development.

CX Place in Milan, set to open in 2023, will have over 1,000 beds over two twin buildings of 26,500 sq m in total. The new accommodation, in the Bovisa area near Milan’s Polytechnic and Mind, Milan’s innovation district, will be open to young professionals as well as students and researchers and is designed to appeal to an international customer base.

Sustainability is a crucial feature of the new development, which will be the only one in Italy to be awarded Leed Gold, the leadership in energy and environmental design certification. All phases of the project will have green credentials, from the choice of materials to construction techniques, to the energy consumption of the finished buildings.

The contemporary buildings will have many green spaces and hanging gardens, sports fields and gyms as well as play, study and meeting areas, while the accommodation will comprise mainly single bedrooms, in line with the post-pandemic shift in demand.

“By opening a campus in Milan with over 1,000 beds we are seeking to replicate the success of Tor Vergata in Rome, which has 1,350 rooms,” said Samuele Annibali, CEO, CampusX. “Our brand is based on the offer of reasonably-priced, modern and functional spaces where students from different social and cultural backgrounds can meet and create a community.”

CampusX is planning to open two more student hubs in Milan to reach the company’s goal of having 10,000 beds by 2025. The group has already opened student housing in Florence, Turin, Bari and Chieti as well as Rome and operates “smart hostels” for short stays.

After three years of partnership with Siram, controlled by French company Veolia, late last year CampusX was taken over by Ernesto Albanese and Stefano Tanzi in a management buy-out. Albanese was named chairman and Annibali became CEO.