Property Description

Penthouse for Sale in Palermo’s Ballarò

Nestled in the heart of one of Palermo’s most traditional districts, on the fringes of the legendary Ballarò street market, Penthouse Sant’Agata is a top floor apartment with four rooms, including a bedroom, living room and separate kitchen. There are some fabulous traditional touches including the exposed beams in the recently restored ceiling, and the palazzo building atop which it stands has been fully refurbished in the past couple of years. If you’ve dreamt of discovering the authentic charms of our welcoming island from within, Sant’Agata is certainly worth a second look.

There is plenty of potential to further personalise and further improve this lovely apartment even more – read on down to read some of our personal suggestions. With market values in the old town increasing steadily as this thrillingly multi-layered city enters a new era of optimism and European outlook, this nicely-sized, characteristic apartment for sale in Palermo’s heart would make an appealing investment. Ready for immediate occupation, this might just be the Sicilian home you’ve always imagined for yourself!

The Property

As we mentioned above, the communal spaces in this building have recently been modernised and upgraded to a very high degree for what seems, from the street, a nice but unassuming terraced property. The developers took advantage of a raft of subsidies designed to stimulate the Italian economy in the wake of the Covid pandemic, and their investment has paid significant dividends.

The first impression on entering the lobby is really positive, an arabesque archway bridging a wide marble staircase. The walls are a pastel terracotta orange, and the broad staircase wraps around a modern elevator with plenty of floor space – a welcome surprise in ta Palermitano building of this age.

Stepping through the (newly replaced) front door into the apartment, you enter into a brightly-lit reception room of a good size, with a dual aspect through a pair of full-length double windows. The balconies that seem to extend out from these are sadly dummies, just protective guard rails, but you can still enjoy the benefit of extra light and the sense of space that comes from being on a third floor, above the surrounding rooftops. The timbered ceiling slopes down away from you, without ever losing the headroom to stand upright.

On the left, an open doorway leads to the kitchen and bathroom, and the bedroom beyond. The kitchen is a large one by the standards of this kind of apartment, and fitted along one of the long walls with a modern suite of cupboards, work surfaces and a nautical blue backsplash. There is an extractor fan over the oven and more than enough floor space for a large dining table and chairs.

The bedroom is a big square room with a low beam that, in truth, slightly reduces the perceived size of the space. However, there is ample room for a large bed, cupboards and so forth. It has a balcony which offers a quintessentially Palermo view of the roof of a covered market, as well as shops, family houses and the streets below.

The bathroom has a large walk-in shower as well as the standard fittings. Finished on all sides with a turquoise tile, it is certainly smart but again, the actual space available is slightly larger than it would seem. Whiter walls and some new light fittings would refresh this internal room.

Radiators in all rooms guarantee that Penthouse Sant’Agata will make a practical and comfortable living space even through the (short and mild) Sicilian winter. It is connected for all the necessary utilities, including high speed fibre-optic internet.

Surroundings

The richly-storied Palermo has always been a source of fierce pride to its inhabitants, but of course, we can’t deny that its twentieth century was a chequered one. However, under some principled and ambitious civic leadership, Italy’s fifth-largest city is experiencing a modern renaissance. With its legendary street food, folk music and complex architecture now augmented by a thriving street art scene and some progressive additions to the business community. The city’s vibrant shopping culture spans the entire gamut from vintage and thrift stores to Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada.

You can read much, much more about Palermo in our deep dive into its history and culture.

All of Sicily’s major attractions are within easy reach for a day trip by private or public transport. Will you choose to take in the fiery natural wonder of Mt Etna or the volcanic Aeolian islands, or the man-made marvels of the ancient cultures found at Segesta or Agrigento? Perhaps you would prefer to keep it simple and enjoy a beach day in sunny Cefalù, or outdoor sports in the hills of the Madonie Natural Park. Whatever your impulse, Sicily has the answer for you.

Potential

It may seem a bit radical, but we would actually be tempted to sacrifice the kitchen in order to turn this into a two bedroom apartment. The living room is absolutely big enough to have a kitchenette in a corner, and to function as a triple purpose kitchen-diner-living room. That would allow the kitchen to make a very nicely sized second bedroom, giving you more flexibility as a host and greater income if you’re planning to use this as a rental asset while you’re not in Sicily. With a good sofa bed in the living room, Penthouse Sant’Agata could even sleep six. That puts you into a much more lucrative market as a tourist rental.

Speaking of rental possibility, if you would be interested in discussing this further with a specialist, our sister company Solemar Sicilia has been welcoming visitors to Sicily with accommodation solutions for many years. They can help with everything from marketing and taking bookings to check-ins and cleaning. Be sure to ask about our property management services when you speak to our friendly, multilingual team.

If you would like to relocate full time to Sicily (and aside from the romance of the idea, you’ll find the tax climate almost as hospitable for new arrivals as the meteorological one!), you might be well advised to invest in an air conditioning unit or two. The summers here can be pretty stiflingly humid. If you were able to install balconies in the living room that would certainly take that space to the next level, too.

Please feel free to ask us for advice about any building projects, no matter how small or ambitious, you might be considering for this neat little apartment for sale in Palermo.