Italy: €375,000-€2.5m Joint agents HOK Residential and Knight Frank are today launching an exclusive development of apartments in a restored palazzo five minutes walk from Florence's famous Ponte Vecchio.
Palazzo Bardi, which is in the heart of Florence on the Via dei Benci and near to the banks of the historic Arno river, is beside some of the Renaissance city's most famous landmarks such as the Uffizzi Gallery, Piazza Santa Croce and Palazzo Vecchio. In fact, the 15th century Palazzo Bardi features a principal courtyard designed by Brunelleschi, the man who created the dome on Florence's architectural masterpiece - Il Duomo.
The development consists of 21 apartments that largely retain the palazzo's original room sizes and sense of grandeur. Many of the building's original frescoes have been uncovered during the development work.
Palazzo Bardi offers a selection of one, two and three-bedroom apartments that range in size from 42.2-285.87 sq m (454-3,077 sq ft). Prices start at €375,000 and go up €2.5 million (this is exclusive of VAT at 10 per cent in Italy). Only six of the apartments have terraces or balconies.
The agents say the apartments, which have completion dates from winter 2005, will be finished to an extremely high standard with the option of a bespoke international design finish. An on-site concierge service also comes as part of the development.
There are 20 car-parking spaces available for €60,000 each. A designated car-parking space in the centre of any Italian city is a must, as on-street parking is invariably difficult to find and often impossible to locate depending on the time of day.
Florence and nearby Pisa airports are served by international flights while the city's main railway station is a short walk away. In addition, one of Italy's great motorways, the A1 (or Autostrada del Sole) runs close to Florence giving access to Milan, Rome, with motorway links all the way down to the toe of Italy.
Palazzo Bardi is being launched at a private exhibition in the offices of HOK Residential at 32 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 today from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
