Florence opened a new student residence in January 2026. Camplus Pietrapiana occupies a former post office building on Via Pietrapiana, steps from the Duomo and Santa Croce. The facility offers 203 beds across 6,200 square meters: 182 in traditional dormitory rooms, 21 in apartment-style units. All rooms include private bathrooms. The building features study rooms, shared kitchens, a fitness area, and a ground-floor café accessible to the public.
This is the straightforward version. The more interesting question is why this matters beyond Florence’s city limits.
Italy’s historic centers face a structural problem. Florence hosts approximately 60,000 university students annually across multiple institutions. Purpose-built student housing has never kept pace with that demand. Students compete for rental rooms in a market where property owners have historically favored short-term tourist rentals over long-term residential leases. The math made sense when vacation rentals faced minimal regulation and could generate multiples of what a student would pay per month.
That calculus is shifting. Italian municipalities have begun tightening restrictions on short-term vacation rentals, particularly in historic districts. Florence, Venice, and Rome have all implemented or proposed new rules: registration requirements, occupancy limits, higher taxes on second homes used for tourist rentals. The regulations vary by city and remain in flux, but the direction is clear. Local governments want residential housing stock to serve residents again.
For property owners, this changes the investment thesis. A three-bedroom apartment in central Florence that once rotated through Airbnb guests now faces regulatory barriers and tax implications that make traditional rentals more competitive. Student housing operators like Camplus, which manages multiple residences across Italy, become viable tenants. They offer long-term contracts, professional property management, and institutional stability that individual landlords can’t match.
Maurizio Carvelli, Camplus founder and CEO, framed the Pietrapiana project as addressing “concrete housing needs” while creating “a place of growth, encounter, and exchange” that “opens itself to the city.” The language is careful. This isn’t just dormitory construction. It’s positioning student housing as urban infrastructure that serves broader community functions, hence the public-facing café and emphasis on integration with the surrounding neighborhood.
American investors tracking European real estate should recognize the pattern. Italy has attracted U.S. buyers for years based on cultural appeal, favorable exchange rates compared to peak dollar strength periods, and entry prices well below comparable properties in London or Paris. The investment narrative often centered on residential properties in Tuscany, Umbria, or coastal regions. Those stories typically glossed over maintenance complexity, bureaucratic friction, and the challenge of managing foreign property from thousands of miles away.
The returns have been inconsistent. Some buyers found value. Many discovered that renovation costs exceeded estimates, rental income disappointed, and the romantic appeal of Italian property ownership didn’t translate to financial performance. The market is correcting toward pragmatism.
What works in Italy’s current environment: urban projects in primary cities with genuine use cases. Student housing addresses documented undersupply. Senior living facilities target demographic trends as Italy’s population ages. Mixed-use developments in walkable neighborhoods serve actual residential demand rather than speculative tourism plays. These aren’t glamorous investments. They generate cash flow in markets where supply genuinely lags demand.
The Camplus project cost hasn’t been publicly disclosed, but comparable student housing developments in Italian historic centers typically require €15-25 million for this scale of renovation and conversion. The returns come from operational efficiency and long-term occupancy, not property appreciation. Italy’s real estate market doesn’t deliver U.S.-style price growth in most segments. The value proposition is stability and yield in a European market with relatively lower entry costs.
Florence’s situation reflects broader challenges across Italy’s tourist-heavy cities. Residential property that serves short-term visitors rather than long-term residents creates hollowed-out neighborhoods. Local businesses that depend on resident foot traffic suffer. The social fabric frays when city centers become hotel districts. Municipal governments respond with regulation, which shifts property economics, which eventually redirects investment capital toward projects like Camplus Pietrapiana.
For American investors, this means treating Italian real estate as a market that rewards sector knowledge and operational partnerships rather than location alone. The villa in Tuscany remains available. The question is whether it functions as a personal-use property you’re willing to subsidize or an investment expected to generate returns. Most fall somewhere between those poles and satisfy neither objective fully.
Student housing, build-to-rent residential, and mixed-use urban projects all require local expertise to navigate zoning, permitting, and ongoing management. Italy’s regulatory environment remains complex and varies significantly by region. These investments work when backed by operators who understand local markets and can handle bureaucratic requirements that would overwhelm foreign individual investors.
The Pietrapiana project won’t reshape Florence’s real estate market. It’s one building with 203 beds in a city that needs thousands more units of student housing. But it demonstrates where institutional capital is moving: toward projects that address documented demand with professional management in markets where regulatory changes favor long-term residential use over short-term tourist rentals.
Columbus International Real Estate is headquartered at Rockefeller Center in New York, with offices in Miami, Milan, and Florence. The firm specializes in the Italy-U.S. real estate corridor, working with Italian investors entering American markets and American buyers exploring Italian opportunities. Columbus International functions as both brokerage and market observatory, connecting luxury developers with international clientele across both markets.
Contact Us: info@columbusintl.com
