Page 45 - Investing in Bergamo EN

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SETTLEMENT MODEL, POTENTIAL, COSTS

The settlement structure is widespread, but concentrated along the main communication
roads. Production activities are mainly present in municipalities crossed or touched
by the A4 Milan-Venice motorway and in municipalities surrounding the capital. Local
land planning and zoning, instead, provides for a concentration of new production
investments on the southern belt of the province, crossed by the Milan-Brescia (Bre.
Be.Mi) direct motorway.
The overall area occupied by undeveloped land designated for economic activities
is estimated at 22 million square meters with a potential surface area of up to 11
million square meters (the floor-area ratio is, with rare exceptions, 50%). 60% of the
offer is destined to accommodate industries or small businesses and the remaining part
is equally distributed between service providers and hotels.
To this must be added brownfield areas, some of which are very extensive with significant
volumes that can be used or developed. These areas are positioned in historical places
of development and are equipped with numerous infrastructures. The last official
survey only considered the large areas and underestimated the actual offer. 84 disused
sites have been identified amounting to almost 1.8 million square meters, of which
10 are estimated at 50,000 square meters. The Municipalities are now geared to
offer important volume or tax incentives for their reuse. Confindustria Bergamo has
launched two tenders for the reuse of brownfield sites and has collaborated with the
Milan Institute of Technology in the European project called “ReCycle” which involves
another 10 universities (including the Turin Institute of Technology, the IUAV of Venice,
the Sapienza University of Rome, and the Ferdinando II University of Naples).
The cost for purchasing a new industrial building in a high-density area with adequate
road accessibility, varies between 880 and 960 euro/sqm, with land accounting for
180 to 220 euros per sqm of construction. A similar property in Milan costs about
1,100 euro/sqm with land accounting for about 320 euros per sqm of construction.
To encourage the establishment of innovative activities, the City of Bergamo has
applied some discounts on the planning fees to be paid at the time of completion of
a building. A company that decides to build a new building on fully improved land, and
that establishes innovative activities (in terms of sector, supply chain or technology
installed) can save up to 180 euro/sqm, with a cost that is reduced to just over 900
euro/sqm.
Tax on properties has as a taxable amount the value of the building and is determined
at a municipal level within a range defined by the State. In Bergamo, it can vary from a
minimum of 4.6 to a maximum of 7 euro/sqm per annum. For a factory of 5,000 sqm, it
varies from 23,000 to 35,000 euros. In Milan, ordinary taxation is equal to 8 euro/sqm;
in the case of new innovative activities, this is reduced to 4.8 euro/sqm.