You know it even if you don’t realize it. It’s the historic building overlooking Piazza Barberini from the corner of Via di San Basilio—the one you see right in front of you when you exit Metro Line A and wait for your chronically late friend next to Bernini’s Triton.
In 2025, it was sold for 37 million euros.
A private investor purchased it following a bidding process in which institutional investors had also expressed interest. For that amount, the buyer acquired seven floors plus a basement level—nearly 6,000 square meters—which, at the time of the sale, housed the offices of international companies.
The price, however, hides a surprise: six years earlier, the same building had cost more.
Paid 41.3 million, resold for 37: the reason isn’t what you think
In 2019, the real estate fund Opportunità Italia had paid 41.3 million euros for it. At the time, there was a bank branch on the ground floor. In 2025, it resold it for 4.3 million less.
Doing the math, that works out to about 6,180 euros per gross square meter.
It looks like a single building, but there are two: the hidden history of Via di San Basilio
What appears from the outside to be a single building is actually two structures built in different eras, between the 17th and 19th centuries. They were connected internally during the most recent renovation. Today, the ground floor houses the reception area, while the upper floors contain offices with high ceilings and period facades.
The street takes its name from the Church of San Basilio agli Orti Sallustiani, located at number 51, which was completed in 1682. “Orti Sallustiani” refers to the gardens that covered this part of the city during Roman times, between the Pincio and the Quirinale.
Up to 62,000 euros a year for 100 square meters: how much does an office cost in downtown Rome?
In the first half of 2026, rents for Rome’s most prestigious office spaces reached 620 euros per square meter per year. For 100 square meters, that comes to 62,000 euros per year.
And the market is booming. Also in the first six months of 2026, approximately 59,000 square meters of office space were leased in the city—48% more than the previous year—with nearly 40% of that in the business district.
Triton, Bees, and Monks’ Bones: What to See Just a Stone’s Throw from Piazza Barberini
From Piazza Barberini, a two-minute walk takes you to the corner of Via Veneto, where the Fontana delle Api stands, bearing the Barberini coat of arms. Walking up Via delle Quattro Fontane, you arrive at Palazzo Barberini, home to the National Galleries of Ancient Art.
If you take Via Veneto, on the other hand, you’ll be walking down the street from Fellini’s *La Dolce Vita*. A little further up is the Capuchin Crypt, decorated with the bones of the friars.
So, the next time you’re waiting for someone at the subway exit, look up: the building in front of you is worth 37 million.
