The former Una Hotel on Via Borgo Palazzo is set to be redeveloped into a 120-key hotel alongside a mix of complementary services. The announced 20-year agreement with an international hotel group strengthens the project—but does not yet make it a fully de-risked investment

Twenty thousand square metres above ground, a further 15,000 square metres below ground, ten years of abandonment and a reported investment of €25 million. These are the headline figures behind Smp Investment Group’s plan to transform the Pantheon complex on Via Borgo Palazzo—the former Una Hotel—from a major urban liability into a new hospitality and mixed-use destination for Bergamo.

The most advanced component of the scheme involves developing a 120-key hotel across two of the building’s six floors. A range of uses is being considered for the remaining space, including healthcare facilities, student accommodation, retail activities and a possible supermarket. The approximately 15,000 square metres below ground would primarily provide parking.

According to Smp Investment Group chairman Sandro Paolino, an agreement has already been reached with a major international hotel group for a 20-year contract. Smp is expected to fund approximately 80% of the works, while the hotel partner would be responsible for fitting out the hospitality component.

The project undoubtedly has several attractive features. At this stage, however, it remains an investment proposition that must still be validated from a planning, technical, operating and financial perspective. Formal discussions with the municipality have yet to reach the decisive phase, while the final uses of substantial parts of the complex have not yet been determined. The original development was reported by Prima Bergamo.

Why Bergamo May Be Able to Support a New Hotel Development

The investment is taking shape against the backdrop of an expanding tourism market. In 2025, the Bergamo area exceeded 1.6 million arrivals for the first time and recorded almost 3.36 million overnight stays, representing year-on-year increases of 6.6% and 7.5%, respectively.

The city of Bergamo alone recorded 666,254 arrivals and 1,359,923 overnight stays. International visitors accounted for 77.6% of the city’s guests, while the average length of stay was approximately 2.1 nights. The positive trend continued into early 2026: during the first quarter, the wider area reportedly recorded 338,811 arrivals and 645,934 overnight stays, both more than 12% above the corresponding period in 2025. The figures are based on VisitBergamo’s Tourist Data Hub.

Milan Bergamo Airport is another powerful driver of the destination’s international reach. The airport handled 16,937,976 passengers in 2025. That figure, however, should not automatically be treated as hotel demand available to the local market: a significant proportion of passengers use the airport as a gateway to Milan or other Northern Italian destinations.

The real opportunity for the new Pantheon will therefore lie in converting a greater share of those flows into stays in Bergamo, while complementing leisure demand with corporate, healthcare, meetings and extended-stay business.

A Growing Market, but One Whose Signals Require Careful Interpretation

Overall tourism data for the Bergamo area show that the non-hotel accommodation segment is expanding more rapidly than the traditional hotel sector.

In 2025, hotels across the area recorded approximately 902,000 arrivals and 1.6 million overnight stays, with arrivals growing by around 1%. Non-hotel accommodation, by contrast, attracted approximately 699,000 arrivals, an increase of 14.7% year on year.

This divergence does not mean there is no room for a new hotel, but it does require a prudent reading of the market. Growth across the destination as a whole does not, in itself, prove that the market can absorb 120 additional rooms at any price point or under any positioning strategy.

Feasibility must be demonstrated through a detailed analysis of the relevant micro-market, the direct competitive set, seasonality, corporate demand and the future brand’s ability to generate incremental bookings rather than simply redistribute existing demand.

The Pantheon Is More Than a Hotel Development

The most strategically compelling aspect of the scheme is its mixed-use character. The hotel would occupy only part of the complex, while the remaining space could accommodate functions capable of generating demand independently and, at the same time, supporting the hospitality operation.

Student accommodation could create room demand from visiting families, lecturers and academic events. A healthcare facility could generate stays by patients, accompanying relatives and medical professionals. Offices and retail outlets could support the hotel’s food and beverage, meeting and shared-space revenues.

These synergies, however, should not be assumed. They must be measured.

An incoherent mix of uses could create conflicts involving access, circulation, security, logistics and the overall positioning of the property. The coexistence of an international hotel, healthcare facilities, student housing and a supermarket would require exceptionally careful planning of guest flows, service routes and common areas.

Before the final configuration is selected, the project would therefore benefit from a proper highest-and-best-use analysis: a comparative assessment of the uses that are legally permissible, physically possible, financially feasible and capable of generating the greatest long-term value.

A 20-Year Contract Is an Advantage, but Duration Does Not Equal Quality

The announced agreement with a major international hotel group is a potentially important strength. A recognised operator can enhance distribution, support discussions with lenders and reduce the perceived risk of the development.

A 20-year contract, however, is not necessarily a secure contract.

Its actual structure must be understood:

  • a lease with a fixed rent;

  • a hotel management agreement;

  • a franchise agreement;

  • a hybrid structure combining a minimum guarantee and variable rent;

  • an operator contribution towards the fit-out.

If the arrangement is a lease, the analysis should cover the tenant’s creditworthiness, guarantees, rent indexation, rent-free periods and termination provisions. If it is a management agreement, most of the operating risk would remain with the owner, making management fees, performance tests and termination rights particularly important.

Responsibility for future capital expenditure, major maintenance and the funding of the FF&E reserve for the periodic replacement of furniture, fixtures and equipment must also be clearly allocated.

The length of the agreement will support the project’s bankability only if it is backed by clear obligations, adequate guarantees and commercial terms consistent with the owner’s target return.

The €25 Million Question: How Much Is Actually Being Invested in the Hotel?

If the entire reported €25 million investment were allocated exclusively to the 120 hotel rooms, the theoretical cost would exceed €208,000 per key.

That ratio, however, could be highly misleading. The development encompasses a much larger complex and includes internal demolition, building services, retail or service areas, common spaces and parking facilities.

Before the project’s returns can be assessed, the investment should be broken down into at least nine components:

  1. the property acquisition price;

  2. clearance, remediation and strip-out costs;

  3. structural works and building-wide mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems;

  4. capital expenditure directly attributable to the hotel;

  5. furniture, fixtures, equipment and operating supplies;

  6. professional, planning and approval costs;

  7. financing costs incurred during development;

  8. expenditure relating to the other uses;

  9. a contingency reserve for delays and unforeseen costs.

The report that Smp will fund approximately 80% of the works while the hotel partner will cover the fit-out also requires clarification. The percentage must be translated into actual amounts, clearly defined scopes of work and binding contractual obligations.

Distinguishing between the property cost, hotel CAPEX and the operator’s contribution is essential to calculate the yield on cost, stabilised value, equity requirement and sustainable level of debt.

This is precisely the stage at which an integrated hotel due diligence process can identify the factors most likely to create—or destroy—value before construction begins.

Technical Risk Does Not End with Clearing the Building

A substantial volume of abandoned furniture and materials has already been removed from the complex. According to the available information, approximately 100 containers were required. Once the clearance phase has been completed, the next steps should include stripping out the existing building services, ceilings and internal partitions, followed by technical surveys and detailed design work.

Construction is reportedly expected to begin in spring 2027 and take approximately two years.

That timetable must nevertheless be stress-tested. A property left unused for an extended period may conceal:

  • unanticipated remediation requirements;

  • structural defects;

  • seismic and fire-safety upgrades;

  • incompatibility between new systems and the existing structure;

  • additional planning requirements;

  • construction cost inflation;

  • approval delays;

  • difficulties coordinating several different uses within one building.

Every month of delay increases interest expense, extends the period during which the property produces no income and postpones the hotel’s stabilisation. A prudent business plan should therefore include base, downside and severe-downside scenarios, without treating either the opening date or the immediate achievement of stabilised performance as certain.

The 120 Rooms Need a Clearly Defined Market Position

An international brand can strengthen distribution, but it cannot replace strategy.

The new hotel must establish whether its principal target markets will be corporate travellers, international leisure guests, groups, events, airport-related demand, healthcare stays or demand generated by the complex’s other functions.

The feasibility study should assess:

  • achievable occupancy and average daily rate;

  • RevPAR performance against the competitive set;

  • the monthly distribution of demand;

  • dependence on intermediated booking channels;

  • labour and energy costs;

  • the profitability of food and beverage and meeting facilities;

  • the operating break-even point;

  • stabilised GOP;

  • debt-service capacity;

  • the property’s stabilised market value.

A 120-key hotel may benefit from operating economies of scale, but it also requires deep and relatively well-distributed year-round demand. Bergamo’s tourism growth provides a favourable starting point—not a guarantee of profitability.

Research published by Investimenti Alberghieri consistently shows that the value of a hotel project depends on the alignment of market, property, operations, capital and debt. If even one of those elements is overestimated, the sustainability of the entire investment may be compromised.

A Development Capable of Creating Value for the City

Redeveloping the Pantheon could remove a long-standing source of urban deterioration and bring a currently unproductive complex back into economic use. The project could create employment, improve perceptions of the surrounding area and generate additional business for contractors, suppliers, retailers and local service providers.

Its public value will nevertheless depend on the quality of its relationship with the neighbourhood. Mobility, access, traffic, security, the permeability of the site and the compatibility of the proposed uses should all form part of the discussions with the municipal authorities.

Urban regeneration is not simply the physical refurbishment of a building. It requires private investment to deliver a recognisable and sustainable function for the wider city.

The Verdict: A Promising Project, but Not Yet De-Risked

The new Pantheon has four clear strengths:

  • a growing destination market;

  • a substantial international demand base;

  • the potential involvement of a global hotel operator;

  • the diversification offered by a mixed-use model.

It also has four major unresolved variables:

  • the planning discussions with the municipality;

  • the final use of a large proportion of the space;

  • the actual allocation of the €25 million investment;

  • the economics and guarantees underpinning the hotel contract.

The scheme could become one of the most significant urban regeneration projects in Bergamo’s hospitality market. Today, however, it cannot yet be regarded as a fully de-risked investment.

The real challenge is not simply to convert two floors into a hotel. It is to demonstrate that the 120 rooms, the complementary uses, the invested capital and the 20-year agreement can collectively produce sufficient, sustainable and financeable cash flows.

That is the difference between an appealing property concept and a hotel investment capable of creating lasting value.

For investors, property owners and lenders, developments of this complexity require an integrated technical, property, hospitality, operating and financial assessment. This is the approach adopted by Hotel Management Group and explored by Roberto Necci in his analysis of hotel asset enhancement, turnarounds and investment sustainability.

To submit a hotel project, conversion opportunity or investment transaction to Investimenti Alberghieri, contact info@investimentialberghieri.it.


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