Lakeside luxury in northern Italy

Sunday Business Post - Property Section - June 17 2007

Turnkey apartments on Lake Garda in northern Italy are likely to attract investors and holiday home buyers interested in the sun and ski-friendly climate, writes Dermot Corrigan.

The latest phase of Padenghe 5-Star Village, a turnkey development on the shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy, is now on the market with prices starting at €226,000 for a one-bedroom apartment measuring 53 square metres. Prices rise to €348,000 for two-bedroom apartments measuring 107 square metres.

Liz Maher, managing director of selling agent Imagine Property Network (IPN), said the properties were being sold with fully fitted kitchens, white goods, a full furniture pack and Vat included, whereas most Italian properties were sold as a shell or with the minimum of finish.

‘‘These apartments are totally turnkey, which is quite unusual for Italy,” said Maher. ‘‘The only thing you have to bring with you is the bedlinen.”




The properties are laid out in blocks, each containing two two-bed apartments and three one-beds. A covered parking area in the development costs €18,000, while a garage costs €30,800.

The Padenghe properties are designed in typical Italian style and lie in landscaped gardens. Although the apartments do not offer lake views, the complex is situated only 150 metres from the lake itself. There are also large communal outdoor swimming pools and tennis courts on site.

Maher said she expected the apartments to be popular with investors or holiday home buyers attracted by northern Italy’s sun and ski-friendly climate.

‘‘These properties have a dual usage in that you can use your unit yourself during the summer, while in winter you are only a half-hour away from the ski slopes,” she said.

The reservation fee to secure a property is €5,000,witha 30 per cent deposit required upon signing of contracts and the balance due on completion, which is slated for December 2008.The properties provide a significant opportunity to generate rental income, according to Maher.

‘‘There will be a small five-star hotel on site, and owners will be able to make arrangements to rent their apartments through the hotel,” she said.

The Padenghe 5 Star Village is located between two larger Lake Garda towns. Desenzano, four kilometres away, is the area’s largest town with a population of 23,000 and a lively nightlife and shopping scene, while Moniga is only two kilometres from Padenghe and is home to a 13th century castle. Golf is also an attraction, with six clubs within easy reach.

Maher said the north of Italy was now easily accessible from Ireland with direct flights connecting Dublin to Verona, Bergamo and Milan and other routes linking Belfast with Verona and Shannon with Bergamo.

‘‘You are an hour or 70 minutes by car from the nearest airport, and it is only about a two and a half hour flight from Ireland,” she said.

She said Italian property had traditionally attracted affluent investors, but that properties were coming on the market at lower prices.

‘‘When we first started selling properties in this part of Italy, it was more families that we were selling to or people looking to retire there,” said Maher. ‘‘That has changed considerably over the last few months and people who were formerly looking at emerging markets now find that they can get something in Italy.”

Maher said Irish investors were attracted to Italy by stable capital appreciation rates of 7 to 8 per cent per year, and that IPN was continually sourcing properties with Irish investors in mind.

‘‘We also have another property coming on in Lake Como,” she said.

‘‘It will comprise two-bedroom apartments that sit directly on the water and which will come with moorings for a boat and the boat itself.

They will start from about €550,000.” Less expensive properties were also freely available in the north of Italy, said Maher. IPN is currently offering a development in Tuscany made up of studios and one and two-bedroom apartments along with two and three-bedroom townhouses.

‘‘It’s a small Tuscan village up in the hills, with stone buildings,” said Maher. ‘‘A studio apartment there will start at €95,000 and the three-bed townhouses will be up to €350,000.”

More information about the Padenghe 5 Star Village and other Italian properties is available from IPN on 1850-200780 or www.ipn.ie.