Developers build not only houses, but entire villages and even cities. Italian company Skiline Immobiliare deals with complex development of territories in the Alps and Sardinia and construction of key-ready settlements. Alberto Scattini, founder, co-owner and CEO tells portal ee24.com how profitable this business is.
A village in the Alps is for sale. Price is from €10 mln up to €45 mln
- Tell us about business direction, which was chosen by your company. We heard that you built a village in the Alps.
- We are a developer who offers properties throughout Italy, but most of our projects are concentrated in the north of the country - on ski resorts in the Dolomites, as well as on the coast of Sardinia. We have been on the construction market for over 40 years. We focus on small vacation houses, although you can live there all year round. We also have a very interesting investment offer: spa, hotels, large centers where you can host tourists and earn money. To sum up, we offer global projects as well as separate houses and apartments.
There are options both at sea and in mountains. Now we pay more attention to a project in mountains - it is a complex of over 100,000 sq.m: hotels, spas, entertainment establishments, as well as houses and cottages in the vicinity of ski-tracks. They are located close to the road and various services, which is important for those who come to have rest on weekend. The first phase of this project will be completed in a year.
Ponte di Legno
- As far as I understand, you are looking for an investor who can develop the project together with you or buy it completely. How much do you need to invest in both cases?
- Minimum amount of investment is €10 million. This amount can be split into parts. We can sell the project either as a separate unit, or as an entire development. Besides we can continue it together, or complete building for the investor and provide key-ready properties. Speaking of the Dolomites, it is assumed that the entire project will cost €40-45 million.
- It is the cost of all the ski resort, with infrastructure, lifts and so on, is it?
- You are right, it will be virtually a new ski resort. There are already rope hoists but we will expand this network and set new ones. The city, where it should be built, is called Ponte di Legno, which is 20 km from Madonna di Campiglio. You will need about 1-1.5 hours, for the way from the nearest airports of Verona, Milan and Pisa. Besides, there is a small airport in Bergamo. Next to our main project there are main shopping cities - Milan and Verona, in 2-2.5 hours drive.
Ponte di Legno
- Is it far from Cortina d'Ampezzo?
- 3.5 hours drive.
- How many years do you plan to spend to implement the project?
- Now we are looking for an investor. We invest in the main part of the project (domestic investment), and we are looking for an investor. It is planned to complete all the work within 2-3 years.
- According to our portal, the Dolomites are a very expensive area, prices can reach €17,000 per sq.m.
- Yes, it's true, our average price in this area is €10,000-14,000 per sq.m.
Ponte di Legno
- Who are these prices designed for? For business class, elite...?
- We mostly offer real estate and service of high-quality. Middle class and upper class are our target audience. Why do we have such prices? In the resort there are over 150 km of quality ski track - it is a pleasure which cannot be cheap.
I’d like to note that we present specific investment projects to be implemented, but we would like to assert ourselves on the Russian market, moving slowly but with a sure step. Apart from looking for investors, there is a variety of offers, such as apartments from 70 sq.m or detached villas. We not only sell, but we also manage the house in future. Picking up from the airport, seeing off by car, turnig on the heating for arrival of the owner - all this is real. In addition, we can rent out the property in the absence of the client and we can even guarantee a certain minimum income.
- What income, for example?
- Speaking very roughly, for a small apartment it is €10,000 annually; for a villa it can be €20,000-30,000 per annum.
Milan
Italy: expensive, beautiful and warm like in summer
- Do you offer apartments in Italian cities?
- We have real estate everywhere - in big cities and in small friendly romantic villages. In particular, we built houses in Tuscany and summer houses on the Ligurian coast. We have just completed a settlement of 22 villas in Sardinia. There are apartments in Milan in the immediate vicinity of shopping streets.
- Tell us a bit more about prices of real estate in Italy
- If we talk about the villas that we have recently completed, their living area is 200-250 sq.m, each property has a garden of 800-1,200 sq.m, and it is in 350 meters from the sea and the beach. The price is about €850,000-900,000 plus 15-20% if it's with design and furniture.
In the mountains we sell apartments from 70-80 sq.m for prices from €400,000-450,000. Chalets (detached cottages) cost €1-1.5 million. Luxury options, private villas of 300-400 sq.m cost €3-5 million. We have large stained-glass French windows, which guarantee great views of the surrounding mountains and ski tracks. It is possible to implement a smart home, controlled from IPad. You can manage such home even from Russia.
- Are villas in Tuscany more expensive than in Sardinia and Liguria?
- It is hard to answer. And it is not quite correct to compare: each region has its own advantages and real estate of different levels. Prices are higher in Liguria near Alassio - €15,000-20,000 per sq.m; and to the south, in San Remo and Bordighera, they are already €8,000-10,000 per sq.m.
Riomaggiore, Liguria
In Sardinia there will be the second Costa Smeralda
- Our Italian partners claim that now many Russians are selling their luxury villas in Sardinia. They say the market is overvalued, and prices are inflated.
- Prices can vary greatly depending on intermediary - an agency that provides the service. The market can actually be oversaturated with participants - new agencies, companies. In a sense, emergence of new companies disturbed the market a bit. It is important to know who a developer is. We are a developer, and we do not speculate on prices.
- But Sardinia is traditionally viewed as a place for millionaires...
- No, that's not quite true, and there are projects in Sardinia at a price of €300,000-400,000. But quality of construction does not suffer.
- Can you find quality accommodation somewhere in Sardinia, apart from the Costa Smeralda?
- In due time, the Costa Smeralda was considered as a popular destination for wealthy Russians. Now there is more information, the Russians "shift" to the south, and now all the coast is worth seeing.
For example, we invest a lot in Villasimius, in the area of the Costa Rei, in the south-east of the island. And we are absolutely confident in prospects of this place, it attracts a great interest among Russian tourists. In the last 2-3 years tour operators rent our properties for the whole summer.
Santa Teresa di Gallura, Sardinia
- Let's go back to the Costa Smeralda. Is it already fully built up, or is there any opportunity to find land?
- Yes, it is built up, and it's one of the reasons for developers to "shift" to the south. There is no room to develop in the north and the only things that are left are to leave or to rebuild existing housing.
- So, the Costa Smeralda, according to developers, is not a really promising direction?
- We have projects on the Costa Smeralda, but now the priority is given to Villasimius. We are confident and there are relevant researches that it will be the second Costa Smeralda.
Interview: Pavel Kuznetsov, ee24.com.