Italian fashion group Max Mara will build a new corporate hub at the former exhibition centre in its home town of Reggio Emilia. The urban regeneration plan was approved by the town authorities on May 10, and will soon be formally adopted by the local council.

The news was reported by the Reggio Emilia mayor’s office. The 13 ha area was home until 2019 to the town’s exhibition centre. When the local trade show organiser went bankrupt, the site was auctioned off and bought by businessman Giorgio Bosi, who then sold it to Max Mara. The group is planning to build a new corporate hub on the site, with space for over 800 people, featuring offices and areas for the design studios, showrooms and other departments, as well as two warehouses catering to Max Mara’s logistics needs.

The investment, estimated at €100 million, will underpin the group’s expansion. It will anchor Max Mara even more strongly in Reggio Emilia, alongside the Max Mara Campus, built some years ago in the northern part of town, close to one of the road bridges designed by Santiago Calatrava. The architectural project for the new buildings will be commissioned following an international competition that will end in mid-July.

The plan is part and parcel of the Max Mara group’s industrial reorganisation. Two companies, Max Mara Srl and Dedimax Srl, have been tasked with promoting the industrial and commercial development of the group’s brands.

The former, which oversees the group’s premium labels, has been operating for some time at the Max Mara Campus, in via Giulia Maramotti in Reggio Emilia. The latter, in charge of the group’s contemporary segment, is currently spread out among various local sites, which are no longer suitable, in terms of size and functionality, to ensure the group’s continued growth.

Hence the need for a new, more functional corporate hub bringing together warehouses and headquarters on the same site. The area is close to the Reggio Emilia high-speed railway line’s station and the A1 motorway junction, as well as to the Max Mara Campus, optimising travel links.