Panattoni Europe has announced the opening of the Fiume Veneto retail park, its first retail project in Italy and the first retail park development to be launched by the US developer in Europe.

Fiume Veneto, which was developed by Panattoni on behalf of its investment partner, Standard Life Investments, is located near Pordenone, northern Italy, and offers 15,000 m2 of retail space as well as 900 parking spaces. The main tenants include DIY retailer Self, electronics giant Mediamarket, and fashion group Piazza Italia. The project is valued at roughly EUR 27 mln.

In an interview with PropertyEU, Italian director Sandro Innocenti said the company is actively looking for new logistics development projects to be carried out through the company's recently-announced partnership with Pramerica Real Estate Investors. 'We have a pipeline of built-to-suit projects which will be presented to our business partner Pramerica in the near future,' he said.

Panattoni announced in February this year that it had formed a new Western European partnership with Pramerica.

Panattoni, which has been active in the Italian market since May 2007, has two other developments under way in the country: the 120,000-m2 Rolo logistics park, which is 65%-built, as well as the 7,500-m2 Voghera retail park in Pavia, which is due to open in October this year.

At present, Italy is the only European market where the company is active as a developer of retail parks, but Panattoni plans to expand its presence in the sector, Innocenti added. 'We are preparing the launch of our first retail project in Poland, which is one of our strongest European markets,' Innocenti said. In November last year, the company hired Andrzej Lasocki to lead the group's entry into the Polish retail sector.