Property News - McArthurGlen begins work on its third factory outlet village in Italy

Designer outlet developer and operator McArthurGlen has started construction on its third Italian outlet village, the EUR70 million (£60 million) Barberino di Mugello scheme, 25 km north of Florence.

The development will be the first outlet development in Tuscany, which draws 11 million tourist each year, on top of the resident population of 7 million.

The 270,000 sq ft (25,085 sq m) outlet village will have more than 100 stores across two neighbouring sites on opposite banks of the River Arno, which will be spanned by a series of bridges. It is scheduled to open in September next year.

The outlet village is McArthurGlen's 14th in the UK and continental Europe, and it is being developed in partnership with Italian-based Fingen Group.

McArthurGlen chairman Joey Kaempfer said: 'Barberino di Mugello is our third village in Italy, and is an exciting venture for McArthurGlen because of its location and the unique challenge of construction, spanning one of the largest rivers in the beautiful Tuscany region.'

Kaempfer said that he has already had a great deal of interest from prospective tenants prior to construc-tion, building on the strength of McArthurGlen's existing Italian malls in Milan and Rome.

These projects have attracted brands such as Bulgari, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein Jeans, Nike, Versace, Feregamo and La Perla.