The list of international tycoons who decide to invest in the Tuscan countryside is getting longer, attracted by the landscape, wine and rural hospitality. The latest in chronological order is Ching Chiat Kwong, a Singapore entrepreneur active in the field of real estate development (with Oxley Holdings listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange which has carried out projects in 12 countries including Europe), which at the end of 2020 doubled the possessions in Tuscany by acquiring the Tenuta di Sticciano, in the municipality of Certaldo (Florence) a stone’s throw from Chianti: 160 hectares of which 23 are vineyards, three thousand olive trees, a Renaissance villa with a panoramic garden overlooking the Val d’Elsa, farmhouses and barn.
Sticciano joins the neighboring property, the 190-hectare Fonti estate that Ching Chiat Kwong has owned since 2013, and thus becomes the engine of a revival and upgrade eno-tourism project that aims to create a charming country resort devoted to well-being. The total investment, including real estate acquisitions, is close to 40 million euros.
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The restyling started with the eight rooms in the Renaissance villa and will now extend to the suite and 15 apartments in Sticciano, before moving on to the farmhouses of the Fonti estate. «When fully operational we will have about 300 beds – explains Luis Lotti, the manager who follows the investments of Ching Chiat Kwong in Italy – and a spa of 800 square meters which will be one of the largest in an agritourism context. The receptive project is then combined with the wine and olive-growing one: we start from the 130 thousand bottles of Chianti wine we make today, with the intention of moving on to the production of Chianti Riserva and Igp wines and to double the bottles ». Olive production will also be enhanced: «Today we make two thousand liters of oil – adds Lotti – and we plan to at least double: in the two estates we have almost six thousand plants but many are abandoned and must be recovered. The project also includes the construction of an oil mill because the Asian market is ready to appreciate a high-level oil ».
It is to the East, in fact, that the Sticciano wine-tourism project looks, thanks to the Singaporean property that will be able to open the doors of Southeast Asia .. “The idea is to activate a privileged channel with Asian countries – concludes Lotti – for offer visitors authentic experiences, from the grape harvest to the harvest of olives and truffles, to craftsmen. We don’t want to upset what’s there, we just want to enhance the territory and traditions ».
The time to complete the interventions span three to four years. Meanwhile Ching Chiat Kwong, which in Singapore is considered the king of flat shoe boxes (shoe box apartments), is investing in two buildings purchased in Venice: Palazzo Donà which it has already transformed into a boutique hotel and rented to the Calzavara family who he will manage it (under the name of Liberty Palace); and Palazzo Poerio Papadopoli whose restyling works will begin in spring 2022.