As reported by thestudenthotel.com, “The Student Hotel group has announced the acquisition of its second site in Florence with plans to begin construction in 2018 and open in September 2019.  It will be the company’s fourth hotel in Italy.

Located in Viale Belfiore at the former Fiat building, the 26,000-square metre destination will form the major part of a mixed development project which will contain the 670-room Student Hotel, as well as residential units, shops, and parking.

Bought at public auction for €28.2 million, the purchase and subsequent development of its second hybrid co-living, co-working building in the city makes The Student Hotel one of the biggest investors in Florence.

The Student Hotel is currently putting the finishing touches to its first Italian property which will open in Florence this September (2017), followed by The Student Hotel Bologna in 2018 and Rome in 2019.

Charlie MacGregor, The Student Hotel founder, and CEO said: “Florence is a hugely significant city for The Student Hotel.  We chose it as the location for our first hotel outside of the Netherlands, the start of our international expansion, and are delighted to be the main contributor in the regeneration of the Belfiore area. We really believe in this project as the first anchor point for the future in this area, although it is only feasible if we are able to increase the volume of the usable area by one extra floor and add extra functions to the proposed multi-functional building. Along with the local and historic university, Florence is host to 54 world-leading universities including Stanford, Harvard, NYU and Tongji universities as well as the EU’s European Institute University headquarters.”