During an interview given to the microphones of ilNewyorkese’s “Portraits” podcast, Daniele Cattaneo, founder of the Immobiltrade company and president of the National Association of Real Estate Developers (ANSVI), recounted his professional experience and his vision regarding a figure, that of the real estate developer, which is still poorly defined on the Italian scene.
“The real estate developer acquires properties, such as apartment buildings, redevelops them and puts them back on the market. He is neither a real estate agent nor a developer, but he works with both. He is a cross-cutting figure who lacked formal recognition.”
Cattaneo’s career path starts with a technical background: he is a surveyor, although he has never practiced as one. After years as a sales manager in various companies, he opened a renovation company in 2005, soon discovering the limitation of working for third parties: “I was missing something. So, since 2010, I started operating as a real estate developer, first with other partners, then founding Immobiltrade, active in Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria, and soon in Emilia-Romagna.”
The need to give form and legitimacy to a profession that still lacks regulatory references led to the birth of ANSVI, the association he now presides over: “I felt there was a lack of a home for us developers. Existing associations talk about public procurement, bridges, roads. We deal with urban regeneration, not new construction. And in Italy there is no school that trains developers. So in just over a year, with ANSVI we managed to get a certificate of professionalism and create the first national registry for the category.”
An important step for the association was the international dialogue, with two missions to New York in late 2024 and mid-2025: “The United States is light years ahead of us on many fronts: innovation, access to funding, operational tools. Participating in the training at Stevens Institute of Technology was enriching. But it was also an exchange: we brought our Italian experience and initiated contacts with American brokers to facilitate the purchase of real estate in Italy by U.S. investors.”
Central to Cattaneo’s vision is the theme of sustainability, which cannot be just a slogan: “We have to give substance to this word. In our work it means choosing materials, designs and processes that reduce environmental impact. It is not always easy, there are economic hurdles, but we aim for low-energy buildings. If I have to make a note to the United States, it is precisely on energy conservation: little is still being done there. In Italy, on the other hand, we are ahead and we try to make people who buy from outside understand the value of energy classes.”
Among the key concepts Cattaneo touched on is that of the “ideal city,” an urban model to be built to people’s specifications: “My ideal city has sustainable buildings, green areas, efficient transportation. I saw in Dubai some very interesting second-level elevated systems that are faster and cheaper to build. And then you have to think about homes suitable for smart working, because today’s homebuyers are looking for flexible spaces where they can also work. Our everyday life has changed, and construction has to take this into account.”
Finally, artificial intelligence. An ally, but not a substitute: “We use it in planning, site management, zoning analysis. It helps us understand what kind of housing is needed in a given area. If you get the target wrong, you get the real estate operation wrong. But human intervention remains key. AI speeds up processes and increases accuracy, but you always need a vision behind it.”
In closing, Cattaneo recounted a project currently being launched in Turin, in the Citturin area, financed through equity crowdfunding: “We have raised nearly two million euros. And sustainability was one of the reasons that convinced investors to participate.”
The article Daniele Cattaneo: “From Turin to New York, building more humane and sustainable cities” comes from TheNewyorker.
