Our clientele is both Italian and from overseas, predominantly from the Netherlands and the UK, although interest from Americans and Australians has also grown in recent months.” That is according toEdward Mazzer, founder of Edelweiss.re Real Estate & Design , which, as well as being an estate agents, has also added interior design to its portfolio. “When purchasing an apartment, it is important to bear in mind that used properties sell for around €10,000 per square metre, while newbuilds are worth between €12,000 and €14,000. However, prices vary depending on location and they must offer home automation, including lights and music, as well as a premium finish. This means that renovation costs are around €2,500 per square metre, and can even peak at €3,000 depending on the chosen finish.” Chalets are the most popular type of property but are extremely exclusive. As such, they are often sold at auction if they are located on the slopes because they are rare finds and very few are currently available, again due to the problem of subsidised stock and free-market stock. “My father Karl Heinz Castlunger has spent the last thirty years establishing the Castlunger architectural studio specialising in hotels and chalets. We are pioneers in using wood in construction, which once raised many eyebrows but is now widely accepted. Nowadays, almost all newbuilds are subsidised. Foreign investors are only able to buy properties on the free market but they are few and far between, and we only manage to sell around four or five chalets a year.” How much are they worth? “A chalet in Cortina d’Ampezzo would cost in excess of €10 million. Here, prices are somewhat lower, with the last couple selling for around the €5 million mark.” This is according to Jan Marc Castlunger, partner of Castlunger Homes (www.castlungerhomes.com/it/), who adds that chalet renovation costs are around €2,800 per square metre. “Our last project was the Centro Fondo, where we also oversaw the interior design, while our hotel portfolio includes Hotel Marmolada and Hotel La Perla in Corvara. We are currently designing a new hotel called Hotel Recourd, in Colfosco, which will be ready next Christmas. We are also on the verge of completing an exclusive chalet in San Cassiano. We are the next generation and our mission is to assist anyone who needs to renovate a hotel by pursuing ‘positioning architecture’ and really understanding the client and where they want to position themselves, so that the design is in line with the owner’s intentions.” Housing stock is also low in Val Gardena, where provincial regulations have blocked new construction projects. A construction company used to be able to build because part was subsidised and part was free, but nowadays free construction costs twice as much as subsidised. Both the economy and the property sector are at an impasse, with many workers having gone elsewhere because there is no more work here.” This is the condemnation levelled by Oskar Insam, owner of Insam Oskar estate agents that he runs with his daughter Nicole . With offices in Ortisei and Selva di Val Gardena, the company has decades of experience in the Val Gardena property market. “Prices in Ortisei and Selva are similar, ranging from €8,000 to €15,000 per square metre for new properties, while they are slightly lower in Santa Cristina. A threebedroom apartment would typically cost around €1.5 million. I currently have a 250-square metre villa for sale for around €3 million. We also offer seasonal and long-term rentals, with a two-bed rental apartment over the winter costing between €10,000 and €18,000 or even more if located on the ski slopes. Annual rent is typically around the €25,000 mark, but this depends on the location of the property and what it offers.” Many hotels have also been renovated and changed hands. The historic and internationally-acclaimed Rosa Alpina hotel in San Cassiano, owned by the Pizzinini family for three generations, was sold to the Asian group Aman, headed by Russian businessman Vladislav Doronin, a specialised investor in luxury resorts, in November 2020. The hotel is currently closed as it undergoes an extensive renovation that will usher in a new era, set to reopen for the 2024/25 winter season as Aman Rosa Alpina, and the Pizzinini family will continue to have the majority ownership. “The aim of our partnership with them is to refine our customer target market, bringing to the fore everything that has been achieved in recent years. To combine our “know how” under the aegis of Aman, leader in the ultra-luxury hotel sector, who has always selected unique locations and whose partnership with us reflects this strategy: Rosa Alpina, managed by the owner family and situated in an unrivalled location, benefitting from everything an Aman resort has to offer.” These were the words of Hugo and Ursula Pizzinini, owners of Rosa Alpina, in conversation with Ville&Casali. What will the hotel’s target market be? We of course look forward to welcoming back our loyal guests who have been with us over the decades. But at the same time, we cannot wait to welcome those new guests who are discovering us for the first time on the Aman circuit. Our clientele loves understated ‘quiet luxury’ combined with an impeccably high level of service where it’s the little details that make the difference.” Some even say that this acquisition has increased property prices in the San Cassiano area because most of the Aman group’s clientele is Middle Eastern and this will bring a higher level tourism to the valley

Published on Ville&Casali february 2024
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