Fondi Rustici to sell complex for EUR 100 mln

Italian company Societa Agricola Fondi Rustici intends to develop a 1,000-hectare site for residential use in the region of Tuscany in Italy. The development, due to start in spring 2007, will involve an investment of about EUR 100 mln. The company intends to sell the residential project in the international market, and therefore has presented it to international investors active in the city of London, Italian newspaper IlSole24Ore has reported.

The development is located in Peccioli, a little town with a population of 5,000 near Pisa. The site includes 40 farmhouses to be developed into 190 residential units by half-2009. The asset is valued at about EUR 100 mln, of which EUR 45 mln is the current value and EUR 55 mln will accrue from refurbishment.

Fondi Rustici is 55% controlled by the municipality of Peccioli and 45% by Belvedere, a local company also controlled by the municipality in which several private individuals have already invested. Renzo Macelloni, manager of Fondi Rustici, said the decision to sell the asset in London has been taken in order to find partners with available financial clout. Besides, an English partner buys to leave an asset intact, not for pure speculation'.

Paolo Riani, architect and planner of the project as well as collaborator of the famous Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, said he studied documents from the time of Leopold, grand duke of Toscany, to give the site an ancient look. However, he said, 'the homes will be ultramodern, each of them with Internet broadband connection'.