CBRE hires new head of Italian hotels ahead of market growth

CBRE Hotels has appointed Francesco Calia to lead its hotels business in Italy as part of an ongoing recruitment drive to bolster its hotel resources in the country ahead of forecast increased deal activity.

Calia will be based in Milan and oversee the development of the hotels team in Italy. He joins CBRE from Cushman & Wakefield where he was a senior member of the company’s Italian hospitality team for six years.

Prior to that he worked for Arthur Andersen and Deloitte for nine years, participating in advisory work on major hotel transactions.

'Italy experiences a lack of international hotel operating chains compared with other prime markets in Europe. The interest from international and local operators is high to find new opportunities under lease and management contracts and our international capabilities ensure we are well placed to offer the best advice,' commented Calia.

His appointment will further strengthen CBRE’s hotel offer which has seen a number of recent hires to bolster the 80-strong international team based across EMEA. These include the recent appointment of Jileen Loo who has joined the team to focus on European-bound global capital, and Rob Seabrook to lead UK brokerage services.

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2014 saw the total volume of hotel transactions in Italy exceed €500 mln, confirming a positive trend which is likely to continue in 2015, the broker said. The hotel market revival in Italy is being driven by a diverse base of foreign investors with buyers from the Middle East, Asia, North America and Europe.

CBRE estimates that over €20 bn of capital will be invested into European hotels this year, fuelled by the liberalisation of domestic controls governing outbound investment. North American private equity funds are also now investing substantial resources in Europe; investment in all European property sectors by North American capital nearly doubled in 2014 to €42 bn and the weak position of the euro against the US dollar will lead 2015 investment to exceed 2014 levels.

'Compared to other asset classes, hotels are offering investors the benefit of attractive returns, and a significant upside based on the possibility to add value,' CBRE said.