Property Description

South-facing Eighth-floor Studio Apartment in Palermo, Ready-to-use and Walkable to the Port and City Centre

This eighth-floor studio apartment in Palermo would make an affordable pied-a-terre in Sicily’s thrilling capital city. The economic and cultural growth seen in this historic corner of the Mediterranean over the past decades means that it would also make an interesting investment, either for long-term residential letting or as an Airbnb in periods when you’re not in town.

Renovated in 2009, it’s still in great condition, with no major work needing to be done. It’s sold as seen, meaning that while you will probably want to renew some of the furniture and maybe redecorate a bit, you could start to use it or even move in on the day you sign the purchase contract.

The residential block in which the apartment is found is conveniently located between the port, the Fiera exhibition centre and the town’s upmarket Libertà district. It’s also just round the corner from the docks where cruise ships dock, an area which has already seen significant urban regeneration is marked for significant further investment in the coming years.

The Property

Entrance to the building is through an impressive communal lobby with arched ceiling and mailboxes for all residents. From here a stairwell or (realistically) elevator will bring you up to the eighth floor. The common spaces here are unflashy but well maintained by the condominium association.

The studio is a simple layout, with a kitchenette at the far end, next to a bathroom – the only closed off space in the apartment. It offers a total of 30m2 of living space, of which about 26m2 is given to the main room A nice balcony runs the full length of the outer wall, 7.5 metres in length and almost one metre deep.

Two windows and a French window look south onto the balcony. This layout gives abundant natural light throughout the day and together with the ceilings, which are at three metres, helps the compact apartment feel surprisingly spacious.

This balcony gives a partial sea view, but only to the unusually tall – our agent measures two metres and was able to spot it, but it’s only right to note that this is the exception rather than the rule.

The furniture includes two wardrobes, a desk, sofa and double bed. The kitchenette is fitted with a sink, cupboards and worktop, to which the previous owner added an electric hotplate and mini electric oven. The floors are in marble tile, and the windows are excellent – modern and efficient, with roller shutters to give you a complete blackout when you need it.

The bathroom is fitted in a style that would be pretty typical for a building of this age in Sicily, with lightly patterned white tiles on the walls as well as the floor. The tub has a shower attachment and curtain, making it conveniently dual use. Hot water for this and for the kitchen come from an electric water heater mounted near the ceiling.

The space is cooled and, when needed, heated by an air conditioning unit mounted above the door.

The condominium association charges a €25 monthly fee, which is very good value for the city, especially considering the fact that a concierge is on duty throughout the day. All paperwork pertaining to the apartment shows it to be completely compliant with building codes and land registry regulations.

Surroundings

The building is a very quiet one, with many small apartments and little noise. Some of the lower levels are given to office space, which helps keep the footfall down at night.This area is very sought after. Although it’s walking distance to centre of Palermo, it’s refreshingly calm compared to some of the other central districts, like the famous street markets. The neighbourhood is well maintained, and it’s very quick and easy to get around. There is a supermarket almost directly outside.

The apartment is between the port and exhibition centre, about 20 minutes’ walk to each.It’s walkable to the upscale Via della Libertà and the leafy Giardino Inglese park, each about 15 minutes away. The beautiful Politeama theatre and the city’s impressive new Marina are 25 minutes at most. If you need to get to further-away parts of the city there are plenty of buses to Centrale station and the old town. A local train station is just 5 minutes away.

You’re on the right side of town to get to Mondello beach in summer, and also to reach the city’s large international airport, which you can reach by car in half an hour.

Potential

As we mentioned earlier, you won’t need to budget for any renovation work here, only some decorating and finishing touches that are entirely up to you.

The furnishings could definitely be upgraded, and redecoration with a bit of colour would really help the space feel more personal and homely. Unless you’re planing to use the space very infrequently or really don’t enjoy cooking, you will probably want to spend a bit of money on the kitchen. It would be very affordable to add a free-standing oven, either electric or fed from a gas cylinder which could be stored safely on the balcony. Upgrading to a modest fridge-freezer would also give you more home cooking options.

We see it as a good candidate for a buy-to-let investment. A range of professionals including some university professors live in the building and you could certainly find tenants interested in an annual or longer term contract. Alternatively, if work or other interests bring you to Palermo on a regular basis, you would be able to lease it short term in your absence to solo travellers or couples.

If you are interested in the latter option, we would love to introduce you to Solemar Sicilia, a sister company of ours with great experience in Palermo’s hospitality sector. Ask us for more details when you contact our friendly, multilingual team about this promising studio apartment in Palermo.