2' min read
2' min read
When the first Student Hotel opened in Florence, in the summer of 2018, few thought that this innovative formula, aimed at students with good spending power who were looking for accommodation with services (gym, swimming pool, wi-fi, study spaces, free time, co-working) but also open to tourists, would take root in a traditional city unaccustomed to change like Florence. Instead, privately-owned student halls of residence - which cost from 650 euros in a double room to over 1,000 euros a month in a single room - have multiplied in recent years, attracting brands such as Camplus, CampusX and beyoo to the Tuscan capital.
The impetus has come first of all from the dozens of American universities that have branches here and organise study semesters for their students: 18 thousand are expected this year in Tuscany (above all in Florence) - the leader in Italy in this sector together with Lazio - for a wealth generated in the region of 253 million euros (Irpet estimates). The other driving force are the fashion schools (Polimoda, Marangoni, Ied, the Italian Academy) and the Italian language schools, which attract many out-of-town students, as well as the University of Florence.
The return of foreign students after the great fear experienced during the Covid phase has rekindled investment in student halls of residence, attracting new projects or restarting old ones. The rest has been done by the Pnrr: the university housing reform fund aims to create 60,000 beds by 2026 thanks to 1.2 billion euro in direct contributions to public and private entities that build accommodation (with simplified urban planning procedures) guaranteeing a quota of places at subsidised rents.
Five private and public student residence projects are underway in Florence, for a total investment of almost 300 million euro. The closest opening, in the first semester of 2025, is that of the city's second Student Hotel, a brand now renamed The Social Hub, on viale Belfiore in the former Fiat area near the Santa Maria Novella station. It will be 550 rooms with a swimming pool and rooftop garden.
In a year's time, the student residence promoted by the American real estate giant Hines should also be ready at the Manifattura Tabacchi, in the new neighbourhood that is being built a stone's throw from the Cascine park: an 80 million investment, 500 beds, it will be managed by aparto, the brand created by Hines himself for this type of project, which already operates two student residences in Milan.
