Istituto San Luigi
property details
for a Hub House co-operative coliving project

Environment ✧ river valley and hills, some walks on door

Services ✧ good village 5mins bike/30mins walk; town 1h bus

Access ✧ station 40mins drive/1h bus;

Notes ✧ youtube drone flyover; article
✦ bit too cold (some brief snow in winter, 3 month down season), but given the cost and size, an interesting opportunity for building a community-outreach space with potential for slowfood and other gatherings in huge common spaces
✦ otherwise would really be inward focussed as the town and more interesting nature are both 40mins, nonetheless there are some walks on the doorstep
✦ would require big conservatory and underfloor heating to improve winter demand, but could be part closed off-season; plenty of space for a suna, hot tub and firepit of course
✦ includes chapel and about 6,000m2 of garden/wooded land with south-west exposure over valley, 1,000m2 protected courtyard on east with arched walkway/portico, plus 1,000m2 lawn
✦ annual taxes ~€7k (as hotel, double otherwise; halved during redevelopment)
✦ closes to busstop for Piacenza (1h), walking/cycling distance to village (2km)
✦ needs at least 500m2 of new roof, about 200m2 probably only purlins and tiles on existing beams, however 300m2 likely needs new beams (spans are suitable for lightweight bonded ibeams), and the exposed attic floor probably would require removal thus avoiding rebuilding costs
✦ solid beam and block floors, but brick walls probably all need new coverings, as with cielings
✦ within good range of WiMAX, or LoS to vilage DSL, fibre appears plausible in future
✦ apparently zoned/prescribed only for collective/public interest use, for which a coliving hub offering community access is thus a good proposition
✦ chapel would make an amazing events auditorium but appears structurally unsound, so better to demolish/let ruin avoiding works costs, alternatively allow local community to fund and transfer ownership