Heritage and conversions
Listed and historic buildings for conversion. Planning verification and dialogue with the heritage authority are held together with the economics of the transaction, from analysis to execution.
The transaction
Converting a historic building requires examining heritage restrictions, planning rules and the requirements of the proposed use. Feasibility needs to be assessed alongside project costs and timing before a purchase commitment is made. Our work coordinates these aspects, with attention to documentation and dialogue with the professionals and authorities involved.
How we work
The first job is feasibility before purchase: what the listing allows, what planning allows, what the use requires, and whether the three hold together. We verify this through preliminary dialogue with the heritage authority and the municipality, so that the offer rests on a realistic perimeter and not on an assumption.
Then the economics of the transaction: acquisition, works, timing, with a business plan that accounts for the restrictions instead of ignoring them. We conduct the negotiation with the institutional owner, coordinate technical and legal due diligence, and assist through to closing. Where the mandate provides for it, we remain in the following phase: coordination with designers and contractors, definition of the works specification, dialogue with the authorities during construction.
The most delicate part of these mandates is the mediation between the practices of a foreign investor and how the Italian market actually functions. It is a work of translation, in both directions.
What it includes
- Heritage and planning feasibility before the offer
- Preliminary dialogue with the heritage authority and local bodies
- Business plan of the transaction, with realistic restrictions and timing
- Negotiation with the owner and coordination of due diligence
- Assistance through to closing
- Coordination with designers, contractors and authorities in the execution phase, where provided
Who it is for
- Operators seeking historic buildings for conversion: senior living, student accommodation, hospitality, offices
- Institutional owners with listed buildings and no use for them
- Foreign investors acquiring their first asset in Italy
- Developers who want feasibility before purchase, not after
Frequently asked questions
How much does the listing weigh on the transaction?
A great deal, and differently in each case. A listing may prevent one use and allow another, impose timing and costs, but also protect the value of the building from what surrounds it. We quantify it before the offer, not after.
Can the use of a listed building be changed?
Often yes, if the new use is compatible with the building and with the planning instruments. The preliminary dialogue with the authorities serves precisely to know this before committing.
Do you also follow the works?
We coordinate, we do not direct. Works supervision belongs to the designers; our role is to hold designers, contractors, authorities and investor together along a path that, without a single point of contact, gets lost.
First contact