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Milan’s Elite Soon to Have Clubhouses All Their Own

Both Core Club and Soho House are opening in the Italian financial capital in 2020.  

Milan’s Elite Soon to Have Clubhouses All Their Own
The Clubhouse, right, stands at WaterEdge Residences in Senibong Cove, developed by Walker Corp., in Iskandar, Johor, Malaysia. (Photographer: Bryan van der Beek/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- If you’re among the bankers relocated to Milan for Brexit, there’s a chance your members-only club may be following.

As well as meeting contacts for an aperitivo at the Bulgari Hotel or Ceresio 7, local entrepreneurs and managers will have several new options for high-touch schmoozing. The exclusive Core Club of New York is planning to open  a second location in Milan next year in a 40,000-square-foot location at the fringes of the fashion district, including a culinary lab with rotating international chefs. London’s Soho House is refurbishing an unused building in the Brera district, adding a rooftop pool bar. Other clubs, including London’s Art Club, may follow suit, according to newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Milan’s Elite Soon to Have Clubhouses All Their Own

“We wanted to find a city as vibrant and relevant as New York,” said Core’s Jennie Enterprise in an interview conducted with her business partner, Dangene Enterprise, in Milan. The pair picked the Italian fashion and financial capital after spending a couple of weeks per month for almost three years. “We fell in love with the city.”

For members, they’re targeting “innovative minds” across to 13 different industries, from fashion to finance and technology, and have partnered with local entrepreneur Federico Pellicioli to pull it off.

Milan’s Elite Soon to Have Clubhouses All Their Own
Milan’s Elite Soon to Have Clubhouses All Their Own

After hosting the World Expo in 2015, Milan climbed international destination rankings, attracting additional tourists to outshine arch-rival Rome, while massive commercial real estate initiatives Porta Nuova and Citylife, as well as luxury apartment sales, have propped up the sagging real estate market. (London-style private member clubs are typically tied in a virtuous cycle of social capital and real estate speculation.) And although Milan lost out to Amsterdam in its bid to host the London-based European Medicines Agency after Brexit, several companies, including Citigroup and JPMorgan, are in the process of relocating bankers to Italy. 

You can become a Core: Milano member by invitation, but spontaneous applications are also being assessed, with final decisions up to the founders. Presales for the 600 targeted, selected members, whose identities are being kept secret, have already started at full speed, say the founders. Membership fees will vary (the closer to the 2020 opening, the higher the fees), but won’t be nearly as costly as the $50,000 figure in New York. Pricing will be around 20 percent lower, and New York members will automatically become members of Core: Milano.

Milan’s Elite Soon to Have Clubhouses All Their Own

Milan’s Soho House, which will generally target the creative industry, will feature a rooftop pool and garden, members’ floors, a gym, a screening room, a Cowshed spa, and bedrooms. Current “Cities Without Houses” members in the city will be able to convert to founder members of the Milan house. Prices remain to be set, but for comparison, Soho House Barcelona’s annual fees run from €770 to €1,850 ($870 to $2,090).

--With assistance from Emma Haslett and Dan Liefgreen.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Ocean at jocean1@bloomberg.net

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