“IT’S NO LONGER TIME TO JUST BUILD NEW REAL ESTATE. 

IT’S NOW TIME TO BUILD FOR A NEW PARADIGM OF LIVING.”

Mission Statement

For thousands of years, the Italian piazza has served as the center of neighborhood and city life. The APDG was founded to establish a path leading to the rebirth of the piazza for modern times.  The Arcetri Piazza concept provides a new version of this essential and historic gathering place. 

The Arcetri Piazza is a new beginning to an old story – a reinvented place to gather and celebrate life. This is an open-air “living room” designed to re-establish the center of neighborhoods and cities. 

4 Updated Versions of the Piazza

The APDG (Arcetri Piazza Development Group) has conceptualized 4 different updated versions of the piazza, which are now ready for development. 

  1. Arcetri Parco Musicali (Music & Art Piazza)
  2. Independent Living – for the new generation of highly functional elders 
  3. Wellness (meditation, yoga, body work, Pilates, local organic food)
  4. Energy Station – Compact Piazza Concept (Convenience, meeting place, café/bookstore, meditation & yoga room, electric car charging )

AGDP is currently locating and acquiring sites suitable for development structured as partnerships, joint ventures, public/private partnerships, or hybrid-tenant/minority-ownership.

Prototypes

  1. Piazza  – Five 3-story Buildings – Approx. 108, 000 Sq. Ft.
    Land:  5 – 6 Acres
  2. Extended Piazza + Ancillary Commercial & Residential Streets
    Nine Buildings  – Approx. 200, 000 Sq. Ft.
    Land: 10 Acres
  3. Ideal Village + Residential Buildings on Connecting Streets
    Land: 20 Acres
  4. Garden & Event Venue
    Performance Stages + Buildings  –  Approx. 30,000 Sq. Ft.
    Land: 5 – 10 Acres

Architecture

Inspired by:

  1. Florentine Traditional
  2. Puglia (Apulian)
  3. Forta dei Marmi (Tuscany-by-the-sea)
  4. Bologna

Themes

  1. Celebrating the Italian Lifestyle
  2. Wellness
  3. Town Center
  4. Event Venue

Potential Adjacent Amenities

  1. Train Station 
  2. Mall or Outlet Mall 
  3. Theaters
  4. Arenas
  5. Observatory

Extensive Gardens

  1. Rooftops
  2. Balconies
  3. Planters
  4. Shade & Citrus Trees

Special Events & Celebrations

  1. Concerts
  2. Farmer’s Markets
  3. Art Exhibits
  4. Product Expos

Anchors

  1. Natural Grocery
  2. Hotel
  3. Gym/Fitness Center
  4. Food Hall
  5. Event Facility

Potential Tenant Mix

  1. Apple Store
  2. Wellness studios for physical therapy, pilates, yoga, meditation, massage treatment
  3. Lulu Lemon Store
  4. Co-Working Space
  5. Restaurants with extensive outdoor seating
  6. Virtual Reality Theater 

The American commercial real estate industry played a major role in the great American 20th Century success story of providing a vast cornucopia of jobs, goods and services. However, based on the widespread development of the random sprawl of suburban car-based culture, a crisis of unintended consequences occurred – a startling increase in personal isolation and loneliness. The arrival of the COVID pandemic accelerated this syndrome.  The concurrent avalanche of new internet-based technologies provided a highly convenient and connected experience that has added to people’s sense of separation. Clearly, it’s time for the creation of an entirely new asset class that supports and enlivens the interactive nature of being human. 

The Arcetri Piazza provides an energetic field of spontaneous personal interaction – a compelling reason to leave home. The creation of this new asset class signals a much-needed revival of the time-tested and necessary tradition of people gathering in neighborhood or town centers.  For most of human history the piazza was the analog version of social media, including the search function, daily news, and commerce. 

The piazza is a walkable, human-scale, rectangular or square space, usually defined by a perimeter of 2-3 story buildings. The elements that create the special attraction of the piazza experience include outdoor restaurant dining, cafes, shops and service establishments such as banks, post-offices and the like. The seemingly “empty” center of the stone paved piazza actually  serves as a vital space of unlimited possibility. Everyone is welcome. It’s owned by everyone and no one.  Piazzas are an all-day and evening venue for a variety of purposes: young and old socializing, people eating together and building lifelong friendships, while taking care of the necessities of daily life. 

Our years of research into the nature of human interaction has led to the conclusion that the built-environment has a much bigger role to play in our lives than is commonly understood. One of the results of this research is the new book “Being Together – The Rebirth of the Piazza”, an in-depth treatise on the history of the piazza and its value in sustaining and supporting human culture. The primary purpose of the Arcetri Piazza is to create an updated version of the traditional Italian piazza that focuses on wellness, independent living, celebration through music and the arts:  a space designed to support love, friendship and the joy of being together.

Potential sites include underutilized commercial and retail locations, vacant land near a city or suburb, or the redevelopment of existing big box stores, shopping centers, malls, hotels, office buildings or movie theaters. 

The 1–10  acre site should be in a convenient location adjacent to population centers where it easily can become the new center for that community.  

Walkable

Human Scale

Square or Rectangular Design

Inspired by Italian Piazza Design 

Use of Italian-style construction materials

Multi-Purpose

Multi-Generational

Open-Air Living Room

Easily Accessible

No Automobile Traffic

Convenient Shopping 

Special Events / Fairs

Farmers Markets

Concerts

Restaurants and Cafes ringing the Piazza 

The piazza culture is the antidote for today’s unsettled lifestyle which requires people to run from place to place to get things done. It takes us out of the moment, always racing for a future that we never quite reach.  The culture of the piazza supports interpersonal activity and activates feelings of connection,  and belonging to a greater whole. It is a structure that supports coherence and encourages being in the moment while energizing the flow of human life on a daily basis. The piazza culture is an about-to-be recognized solution for young and old alike as they long for a more vibrant, convenient, walking lifestyle.