Fan Chen
Back to Work

Project Case

Casa Rossi Real Estate Valuation

A two-scenario valuation comparing preservation and adaptive reuse for a historic Milan asset.

Role

Real estate valuation / Rental market analysis / DCF comparison

Stage

Scenario design, rent estimation, valuation, and investment recommendation

Key Outcome

Compared the current-use scenario with a showroom/fashion-atelier conversion and recommended the higher-ROI option.

Strategy Snapshot

BUSINESS QUESTION

Which asset strategy creates better risk-adjusted return?

The case compares preservation-led current use with an adaptive-reuse showroom strategy, making the decision about return quality rather than surface-level revenue.

REPORT EVIDENCE

Rent comps and DCF separate upside from cost

The report estimates rental income by functional space, then tests both scenarios through cash-flow assumptions, renovation cost, and heritage constraints.

STRATEGY SIGNAL

Prefer the lower-intervention scenario

The current-use option is more convincing because it protects ROI and execution certainty, even though the showroom scenario has stronger headline rent potential.

01

Background

Casa Rossi is a historic building on Corso Magenta in Milan with cultural-heritage constraints. The investment question was not simply what the building was worth, but which operating scenario created the better risk-return profile under preservation limits.

02

Problem

The asset had two plausible strategies: keep the existing mixed-use structure with lower cost, or convert it into showrooms and fashion ateliers with higher revenue potential but higher renovation cost. The decision required comparing revenue upside against capital expenditure and regulatory constraints.

03

Approach

I estimated market rent by function, adjusted comparable listings with feature coefficients, calculated rentable areas, built discounted cash-flow logic for both scenarios, and compared return on investment rather than relying on headline revenue alone.

04

Key Evidence

SCENARIO 1

Keep current use

Lower intervention cost and fewer regulatory risks made the current-use scenario more attractive from an ROI perspective.

SCENARIO 2

Showrooms / ateliers

The adaptive-reuse option had stronger revenue potential but required higher renovation cost and greater execution risk.

METHOD

Rent comps + DCF

The valuation combined market comparison for rent estimation with discounted cash-flow logic for investment judgment.

Scenario Comparison

The investment call is based on the tradeoff between revenue upside and intervention cost.

Scenario 1

Keep current use

Lower cost, fewer heritage-intervention risks, stronger ROI profile.

Scenario 2

Showrooms / ateliers

Higher rent potential, but higher renovation cost and execution complexity.

Decision

Prefer Scenario 1

The original-state scenario is more attractive after cost and return comparison.

05

Decision Logic

Higher revenue does not automatically mean better investment

The final recommendation favored the original-state scenario because the incremental revenue from conversion did not fully compensate for higher cost and risk.

Heritage constraints are part of the financial model

For protected assets, renovation limits, maintenance obligations, and permitted-use constraints must be treated as valuation inputs, not background description.

06

Outcome

The final recommendation was to keep Casa Rossi closer to its original state. The showroom/fashion-atelier scenario could generate higher revenue, but the current-use scenario offered a better investment profile after cost and ROI comparison.

07

Reflection

This case is useful for showing investment judgment: the work moves beyond valuation mechanics and demonstrates how to choose between competing asset strategies.

PDF

Original Deliverable

This page is a concise case summary. The full report contains the research process and modeling details.

View Full Report