Cushman & Wakefield Italy has strengthened its Hospitality sector team with the recruitment of Francesco Calia, a professional with over 23 years of experience in the international real estate sector.
This marks a welcome return to Cushman & Wakefield for Calia, who has held important roles including, most recently, Executive Director and member of the Board of Directors, heading the Hotels team at CBRE Italy. He specialises in strategic consultancy and transactions for real estate assets in the hotel sector and has managed operations with a total value in excess of €1.5 billion, collaborating with major international investors, banks and international operators such as LVMH, Bain Capital, PIF, Blackstone Group and many others.
At Cushman & Wakefield, Calia will be Head of Hospitality Italy based in Cushman & Wakefield’s headquarters in via Turati in Milan. He joins Partner, Alessandro Belli, Head of Hotel Investments, who is based at the Rome office and will also be overseeing the team activities for Central and Southern Italy.
“We strongly believe in the Italian hotel sector and believe that it will continue to perform well in the years to come with an increasingly strategic importance for our clients. The return of Francesco represents a major step to further strengthen our presence in this growing market,” commented Joachim Sandberg, Head of Cushman & Wakefield Italy. “With his proven experience and deep knowledge of the sector, Francesco will be a key resource to guide our clients in their investment and development plans. His return will enable Alessandro Belli to focus on supporting our key clients on investment transactions and to develop our coverage in Rome which we recognise as a key growth market. Francesco’s return will accelerate Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality’s growth and position the team among leaders in the sector with greater strength in terms of skills and geographical presence.”
Jon Hubbard, Head of Hospitality EMEA at Cushman & Wakefield, added: “We have seen a significant increase in investor and operator demand for the Italian hotel market over the last few years, in line with the increased focus on the sector across Europe, and Francesco’s return demonstrates our commitment to supporting clients in this important hospitality market.”