A jewel from public to private: the recent history of Palazzo Serra Gerace in Genoa

Two weeks are left until the first 2017 edition of Rolli Days, the now famous event that opens the doors of Genoa’s historic palaces, including those that were not enrolled in the so-called"rolli" from which the event takes its name. During the two-day event, to be held on Saturday April 1 and Sunday April 2, it will also be possible to visit Palazzo Serra Gerace, whose opening was one of the novelties of the October 2016 edition. The building, a jewel built starting in 1677, is among those that were never part of the lists (the “rolli,” precisely) of the Republic of Genoa, partly because it was built after the last rollo, which was issued in 1664. The palace is located in the area of Sottoripa, the area of the historic center that stretches right in front of the old port: it is one of the best known, busiest and most striking in the Ligurian capital. Palazzo Serra Gerace is one of the most beautiful and valuable buildings in Sottoripa, and as early as 1766 a writer on things Genoese like Carlo Giuseppe Ratti realized this perfectly, having described it in his Instruzione di quanto può vedersi di più bello in Genova as a “palazzo nobilmente adorno d’affreschi e di tavole preziose.” The panels (Ratti says there were, among others, twelve by van Dyck depicting the apostles, at least five by Maratta, two by Grechetto, one by Titian, one by Tintoretto, one by Snyders, and two by the school of Rembrandt) are gone today, but the frescoes have been preserved intact: visitors can admire the splendid cycle of the Stories of Aeneas, by Paolo Gerolamo Piola and Jacopo Antonio Boni.

Paolo Gerolamo Piola, The Council of the Gods (c. 1720; fresco; Genoa, Palazzo Serra Gerace)

The Genoese are clearly familiar with the beauty of these rooms, as the queues to visit Palazzo Serra Gerace at Rolli Days in October 2016 were particularly long. But for the wonders contained here, the reader must be referred to a later article, in which we will discuss them in more detail. The story that is intended to be presented today is certainly much less epic than the frescoes, but it is very interesting because we believe that the events that the reader will learn about from the next few lines are rather illustrative of the situations that are often known from the minor cultural heritage (because such undoubtedly is Palazzo Serra Gerace in the eyes of most: probably very few outside of Genoa even know of its existence). And integral to this story are the same queues mentioned just above. In fact, the past occasion to visit Palazzo Serra Gerace constituted a rather rare opportunity, because the building, after having been for some time the property of the City of Genoa, has for some years now passed to private parties who have decided to allocate it to various projects, some of which are, moreover, quite controversial in the city and beyond. But it is necessary to go in order.

Palazzo Serra Gerace was put up for sale at the end of 2009: managing the transaction is SPIM (Società per il Patrimonio Immobiliare), a wholly owned subsidiary of the City of Genoa. The news of the beginning of the sale procedure of the Palace is given on February 9 of that year by the Secolo XIX, which also explains the reasons why the City of Genoa decided to put its seventeenth-century palace up for sale (in addition to other properties located in various parts of the city): “to buy a portion of the ground floor, three rooms used as a warehouse and the first seven floors of the Matitone in Sampierdarena, where some public offices will be moved.” So, a kind of huge move that the municipality has already had in mind for quite some time but needs resources to materialize. The value of the six floors of Palazzo Serra Gerace, at the time home to thesports department and other municipal offices, is estimated at six million three hundred thousand euros. This is a decidedly low price, considering that the total area amounts to just over six thousand square meters: a palace of such great value is thus estimated at one thousand euros per square meter. However, the need to replenish the municipality’s coffers collides with reality just a couple of months later, when the first auction for the sale of Palazzo Serra Gerace goes unsuccessful, to the administration’s great disappointment.

The Municipality, however, decides not to lower the price of the Palace in the following auctions, also because towards the end of the year some buyers begin to emerge: there is talk of the Region of Liguria, which would like to move some offices here, of a “large Genoese group” that would like to turn Palazzo Serra Gerace into its representative office, and again of a “Milanese group” moved by the same purpose as its indigenous counterpart, and finally of a “real estate group from Turin” intent on obtaining housing and offices from the six floors of Palazzo Serra Gerace. The building was finally sold in the summer of 2010: the buyer was the company SG Serra Gerace srl. Main role in the deal, as explained by the Secolo XIX in an article dated April 7, 2013, belongs to Marina Porto Antico, which holds the concession for the marina of the same name in Genoa’s Old Port area and which, with 50 percent of the shares of SG Serra Gerace srl, is the majority shareholder. The rest of the shares belong to two real estate companies (Gadolla spa and Andre spa) and a Genoese lawyer. The goal of the (entirely legitimate) consortium is to convert Palazzo Serra Gerace “into commercial space, business center and apartments.”

The first fruits of the “reconversion” are reaped in 2013, when Mc Donald’s decides to open a fast food restaurant on the ground floor of Palazzo Serra Gerace, creating not a few ill-feelings in the city, although most are concerned above all about the possible competition that the American multinational will make to the restaurateurs of the ancient port. For the other floors of the Palazzo, SG Serra Gerace srl plans to make “representative offices” on the three levels above the fast food restaurant (including the one with frescoes by Piola and Boni) and “eight extra luxury apartments” on the last two. Prices? Around three thousand euros per square meter, or three times the purchase price. Some of the apartments turn out to be as of today, March 13, 2017, still for sale on some real estate portals: we found one of 85 square meters at a price of 270,000 euros. “Located on the third floor (with elevator) of the prestigious Palazzo Serra Gerace, it is composed as follows: entrance hall, living room with kitchenette overlooking Piazza Caricamento, utility room, bathroom and large double bedroom from which there is a pleasant view of the old port area.”

Indeed, the view is pleasant

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