Digging down into the earth of Rome is a perilous undertaking. In a city where monuments date from the 2nd century BC, developers never know what they’ll find buried deep below. The builders adding a third line to Rome’s small-scale metro system plan to exploit this by filling the new Venezia underground station with their archaeological finds so that when it opens, hopefully for the Catholic church’s jubilee in 2025, it will not only be a main transport hub but also a city museum.
The jubilee is a year of atonement for Catholics worldwide, normally held every 25 years and expected to bring 35 million pilgrims to Rome. It’s a striking number for a place already well established on the tourist trail and the city is spending big to prepare.
“Rome is rebuilding its reputation for hosting major international events, starting with the Ryder Cup last year and then the jubilee,” says Isobel Lee, a British TV producer turned journalist and the editor-in-chief of the property event MIPIM.
“After years of mass tourism, authorities want Rome to be considered a destination for luxury travel, greenlighting a significant number of five-star hotels in the last eight years. Bulgari, the W, the Rome Edition and the Intercontinental just to name a few have opened with Corinthia, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental on the way. Via Veneto is finally getting back to its Dolce Vita roots as the ultimate luxury address.”
Lee, 48, has lived in Rome for 20 years, cataloguing the changes with a side job as a food blogger. “I worked on Channel 4’s Italian football show and when the series ended I was determined to stay in Rome, working initially as a freelance producer for MTV,” she says. “I’ve never felt alone here. The Roman people have an extraordinary capacity for cheery resilience which echoes my world view. It’s a tremendously accepting and down-to-earth city which also has this ethereal beauty.”
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The changes in the city extend to residential property too. “For years, the only new housing developments were on the periphery of the city, built by local developers and typically low quality,” Lee says. “Now international names in construction and design have introduced new standards and reliability.”
One example is Fo.Ro Living, an off-plan development of 118 studio to four-bedroom apartments close to Appia Antica Park, ten minutes south of the city centre. From the contemporary design, three linked buildings with large curvaceous terraces, to ambitious plans for green planting overseen by Laura Gatti, the ergonomist and landscape designer behind Milan’s Bosco Verticale, the project brings dramatic innovations to the Italian capital.
“International investors in Rome used to seek out the romance of the historic centre,” says Riccardo Leonelli, the head of new developments for Savills Italy. “Now they want the same standards and high-quality facilities they would find in homes in Miami, London or New York. They want gyms, concierge services, underfloor heating, efficient demotics [smart technology] and outside space. In Italy, until recently, you had to go to Milan to find these but now Rome has interesting options too.”
Fo.Ro, short for Foresta Romana, will have office space on the first floor and retail on the ground with ten floors of residential homes and three floors of underground parking. The buildings face Via Cristoforo Colombo, an important artery in and out of Rome, but nature is the focus, Leonelli says, with Gatti planning to plant 186 trees, more than 2,700 shrubs and 900 creepers and climbers. Gatti says it will create a vision of greenery that “explodes” across balconies.
All homes will have some terraces or gardens with facilities including a rooftop garden, wellness centre, business lounge, co-working space and a putting green. Prices start from €314,000 for studios and €600,000 for one-bedroom homes with completion due in summer 2026.
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Leonelli says there are more high-quality developments today in Rome than at any point in the past 20 years. That includes renovations too. Last year Sotheby’s completed the sale of 29 apartments at Palazzo Raggi, an early 18th-century property close to the Spanish Steps in Rome’s historic centre. The total sale amounted to €71 million, a record in property development in the city, according to Diletta Giorgolo, the head of residential for Italy Sotheby’s International Realty.
“This architectural gem underwent a complete restoration and renovation and experienced unprecedented international demand,” Giorgolo says. “We are positive for the future. In 2023 the tourist revival in Rome convinced the most prestigious luxury hotel brands to open new hotels in the city, putting Rome second only to London for new openings, according to rankings from Luxury Travel Intelligence.”
Other new projects that marry green terraces and contemporary architecture include Forte Braschi in Trionfale, northwest of Vatican City, where “eco-conscious” one, two and three-bedroom apartments are priced from €280,000 through Colliers. The location overlooks Pineto Regional Park, one of Rome’s largest open green expanses. Further south, Porta Pamphili will have 154 studio to three-bedroom apartments priced from €255,000 through Savills.
Need to know
• VAT in Italy on new construction is 4 per cent for a first home and 10 per cent for second homes
• Maintenance costs at Fo.Ro Living, including all plant care, are expected to be about €12,000 a year for a two-bedroom home
