Società Generale Immobiliare

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Società Generale Immobiliare (English: The General Company of Real Estate) was the largest Italian real estate and construction company. It was founded in Turin in 1862 but then moved to Rome in 1870 with the unification of Italy. After moving to Rome, the company became interested in the pastoral land around Rome and ended up buying it. With the growth of Rome, the company grew as real estate prices rose. With time, the company's activities changed from focusing on real estate to focusing on construction. One of the people to lead Immobiliare in the construction direction was Aldo Samaritani who joined the company in 1933. The company is famous for building numerous residential buildings throughout Italy.

Immobiliare's largest share holder was the Vatican, which held fifteen percent of the shares. However, most of the Vatican's holdings in the company were sold in the late 1960s to Gulf and Western. It is the predecessor of group SGI which was brought under the control of the Opus Dei in the early 1990s. The company was also involved in the scandal of Banco Ambrosiano.

Famous buildings

Watergate complex
Cavalieri Hilton Hotel in Rome

References in popular culture

Immobiliare, under the name of "Internazionale Immobiliare", is featured in The Godfather Part III as part of main character Michael Corleone's efforts to legitimize his fortune.

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