Last October there was talk in the Italian media of a takeover of Villa San Giorgio, also known as Castello di Portofino, by the Cascade group, which controls Four Seasons.
The Castello di Portofino sold for €66.4 million
The operation was soon denied by the Bill Gates' company, but now the Italian daily Corriere della Sera has revealed that at the end of April the property was sold for €66.4 million by the previous owner, the Garrè family to Fort Partners, a Puerto Rican company headed by the entrepreneur Nadim Ashi, who has been working with the Four Seasons for years. It was a good deal for the Ligurian family, given that, according to the Milanese newspaper, four years ago the Ligurian property was valued at €37.33 million.
Four Seasons is opening two hotels in Rome
Villa San Giorgio is spread over more than 1,200 sqm, divided into 12 mini-apartments, has a private lift leading to a small beach below, and a private park. The municipality's zoning plan identifies the building for residential use, as already explained last October by the mayor of Portofino, Matteo Viacava, commenting on rumours that were already circulating about the current deal. To transform the complex into a hotel would therefore require a change of use. Two similar transactions conducted by Fort Partners in Rome, with the acquisition of Palazzo Marini in the centre and Palazzo della Rovere in Via della Conciliazione, have however already been carried out with the aim of opening two Four Seasons hotels in the capital.
