Let’s Travel back in time to find out how Carlo Corti entered the real estate world.
A bit of History
It all started way way back in 1913 with the entrepreneur Mario Corti, who founded Le Manifature Riunite Corti, two textile factories in Besana Brianza, which at one point employed over 1,000 people. A couple of years later, with the rise of the Fascist Party and the volatility of the Italian Lira, the Family* decides to enter the Italian real estate market, investing the additional capital deriving from the Family's industrial activities on half a dozen buildings in Milan. These included historically prestigious areas such as Piazza San Camillo De Lellis, near Milan Central Station, in via Filodrammatici, near La Scala, and in the beautiful neighborhoods of via Carducci near the Duomo of Milan.
Piazza San Camillo De Lellis
via Filodrammatici
via Carducci
In the years that followed, a global economic crisis ensued, partly due to the Korean War, which inflicted severe economic damage on the Manifatture Riunite Corti. These real estate investments proved to be fundamental for the stability of the industrial activity. A decision was made to sell part of the portfolio. Instead of selling the buildings as single units as they were initially bought, these properties were sold fractionally with great economic success, kickstarting the families journey into the real estate business.
In 1960 Giovanni Corti founded the company Cristina Rossa S.p.A., and then together with his son, Carlo Corti, founded Gestimm S.p.A. in 1981.
In the 1980s, through Carlo Corti, the third generation grew the business into the success it is today. Carlo Corti expanded its range of business activities by designing, building, renovating, and developing all types of asset classes and maintaining its leading position in the Milan real estate market. The expansion grew on a global scale that reached as far as Edmonton, Canada, and Cape Town, South Africa.
In 2018, Carlo Corti leaves Gestimm - which he had managed and grown for over 40 years, to focus on his own company, STORM., growing it into the powerhouse it is today.
***The family was made up of ten children including a writer Eugenio Corti famously known for his work The Red Horse, two missionary doctors - Piero and Lucille Corti - founders of St. Mary's Lacor Hospital in Gulu which is still today the most important hospital in Uganda, a Jesuit still today a missionary in Chad, and real estate developer Giovanni Corti.