Lendlease signs binding agreements for the lease of approximately 5,000 square meters within the MIND Village.
The companies will benefit from the MIND ecosystem to develop innovation projects in Life Sciences and City of the Future.
Lendlease, an international real estate, infrastructure, and urban regeneration group, announces that it has signed the first binding agreements with AstraZeneca, Bio4Dreams, and Rold for the lease of approximately 5,000 square meters of office, laboratory, and commercial space within MIND Village—the area of MIND where the Expo 2015 buildings are being converted according to circular economy principles.

The agreements stipulate that, by the end of 2021, the three tenant companies will become part of the district's innovation ecosystem, moving into the spaces designated for their projects and headquarters. To date, over 100 companies have expressed interest in bringing innovation projects, skills, resources, technologies, and research and development activities to MIND.

Access to MIND represents a strategic lever for companies that will benefit from the innovation ecosystem, thanks to direct interaction with all the players that are part of the district and the public anchors— the University of Milan, Human Technopole, Istituto Galeazzi, and Fondazione Triulza —with whom they will be able to develop innovative ideas and projects in the fields of Life Sciences and City of the Future, in a collaborative and multidisciplinary context.

The three signatory companies are (i) AstraZeneca, a global leader in the life sciences sector, (ii) Bio4Dreams, Italy's first certified and wholly privately-owned incubator dedicated to life science start-ups, and (iii) Rold, a leading company in the design and manufacture of innovative components, solutions, and platforms for domestic, professional, and industrial use.

The leased spaces are all LEED Gold certified, meet the highest standards of environmental sustainability, and provide cutting-edge solutions for the well-being of those who will live and work there. MIND Village aims to be an innovative ecosystem in terms of design, a place created to promote balance and integration between private and social life on the one hand and professional life, work, study, and research on the other. It is an area that puts the well-being of its inhabitants at the center, through the quality of its indoor and outdoor spaces, equipped for sports, relaxation, and outdoor activities.

Andrea Ruckstuhl, Head of Italy and Continental Europe at Lendlease, said: "We are very proud to announce the arrival of the first companies at MIND. Each one represents excellence in its own sector and will contribute to fueling the innovation ecosystem within the MIND area, which Lendlease is promoting together with Arexpo and public anchors. The agreements signed and those in the pipeline confirm MIND's appeal as an ideal place for the cross-pollination of ideas and a hub in Italy for innovation in the life sciences and cities of the future, as well as a physical space with cutting-edge environmental and energy performance. At a time when we are forced to rethink models of sustainable economic development in order to meet current challenges, the MIND ecosystem represents a unique example of urban regeneration in Europe: those who decide to be part of it actively participate in its creation and adhere to increasingly high standards of sustainability.

The conversion of the spaces—starting with buildings already constructed for Expo 2015 —is underway, and the first spaces will be available starting at the end of 2021. As part of the agreement signed with Lendlease, each tenant is committed to carrying out a scientific or innovation project aimed at nurturing the MIND ecosystem. Specifically, the agreements provide for:

  • 3,000 square meters of office space for AstraZeneca, where the global leader in life sciences will relocate its Italian headquarters with over 200 employees to facilitate collaboration within the MIND ecosystem with a network of companies, pharmaceutical startups, and public institutions—the University of Milan, the Human Technopole, and the Galeazzi Institute—to develop ideas and build partnerships and innovative projects to support patients.
  • Bio4Dreams will use 1225 square meters of space to create its headquarters, with large, modular, and flexible workspaces dedicated to its internal units and innovative startups, which will be able to find customized incubation paths tailored to the specific needs of each startup. Bio4Dreams and its ecosystem of startups at MIND will benefit from shared research laboratories, the SharedLabsTM. This project, launched with a model that is innovative in Italy, involves the creation of sixteen shared laboratories (chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, biomaterials, sensor technology, and cell biology) that are modular and integrable, usable on demand by startups and researchers for the time necessary for their scientific validation. Each startup will therefore be able to use laboratory space and advanced technologies without having to bear the cost of purchasing and managing the technologies, and will be able to use them when needed, as part of the process of researching and consolidating their scientific and entrepreneurial ideas.
  • 550 square meters of office and laboratory space in Rold to house the Rold Academy, which will provide its employees, students, and professionals with continuous training, technical skills, and soft skills to face the world of the future. It will also be home to R-Lab, the applied research laboratory dedicated to nurturing talent and developing new cross-disciplinary businesses.