Principal Real Estate has partnered with GWM’s Italian Real Estate Special Situations II fund to buy a stake in the Rome Cavour Hotel complex on behalf of a separate account mandate.
Located in the centre of the city within 500 metres of the Colosseum, the Rome Cavour Hotel complex comprises 6 adjoining buildings totalling around 10,650 sqm surrounding a garden.
Plans for the site include a full redevelopment and a conversion of the buildings to a luxury lifestyle hotel.
Why it matters
As adaptive re-use projects and repositionings continue to take centre stage, investors in Italy have taken it one step further by consolidating two or more buildings into single hotels. Earlier this month, ECE Real Estate Partners, SORAVIA and denkmalneu begun a €45 million repositioning of the 4-star Bonvecchiati and Palace Bonvecchiati hotels in Venice into one hotel, with the aim of opening the 168-room 5-star hotel in spring 2026.
What they said
Hugo Steen, head of fund investments – hotel & leisure division at Principal Real Estate said: “We are delighted to have acquired this exciting project for our client, right in the centre of one of Europe’s premier destination cities. This acquisition is a prime example of where we see value in today’s hotel market in Europe, with the potential to transform an incredibly well located asset into a fantastic new destination within Rome. We look forward to embarking on this new chapter in Principal’s extensive history in European hotel real estate investment.”
Matteo Cidonio, partner at GWM and senior advisor to the IRESS fund added: “We are thrilled to enter into a partnership with Principal Real Estate on such an iconic redevelopment which will bring back to life such an iconic building in the most thriving and exciting area of Rome. We believe that the combined expertise of Principal and GWM will provide the most value to the project.”