Do you own a ground-floor unit that's empty or unused? In many parts of Trieste hardly anyone is looking for a shop, but everyone would like a parking space.
Call us. In ten minutes we'll know whether it's worth coming to see it.
A shop sells to someone who wants to run a business in it. If the street has lost footfall, that buyer never comes.
A garage sells to someone who lives or works nearby and has nowhere to park. In central and semi-central Trieste, that buyer is almost always there.
In the same parts of Trieste, a lock-up garage is worth about twice as much per square metre as a shop, and even more in the centre. In the semi-central areas, a single garage is currently advertised at 40,000 to 60,000 euros.
But a shop can't be turned entirely into garage space. Part of it is needed to drive in and manoeuvre. That's why the first question isn't what it's worth, but whether it can be done.
Sources: OMI property values from the Italian Revenue Agency, second half of 2025; 37 garage listings in semi-central Trieste on immobiliare.it, October 2026.
Almost no owner knows, and without seeing the unit, neither do we. That's why we come to see it, take basic measurements and photograph it. Four things matter, plus the parking law and the condominium.
A car has to drive in, turn and drive out without touching walls or columns. The width of the entrance, the depth of the unit, the position of the columns and the ceiling height all matter. Only a full measured survey shows how many spaces will really fit.
Turning a shop door into a vehicle entrance needs authorisation from the authority that owns the road, as required by article 22 of the Italian Highway Code.
Article 46 of the Highway Code regulations sets the conditions for a vehicle entrance. It must be at least 12 metres from a junction. It must be visible to approaching drivers from at least the braking distance. It must lead to an interior space suitable for parking or manoeuvring. Where there's heavy pedestrian traffic, the vehicle entrance must be separate from the pedestrian one.
The gate must be set back, so that a car waiting to enter can stop off the road. Where that isn't possible, you can apply to install an automatic gate instead. The council can allow shorter distances only for vehicle entrances that already exist.
In Trieste, a vehicle entrance requires a permit from the council, as a concession to use public land. For a unit near a junction or on a narrow street, this is often where the project ends.
Above 300 square metres of covered area, a garage is subject to fire brigade inspections under Presidential Decree 151 of 2011. Below that threshold there are no inspections, but the project must still meet fire safety rules, and your engineer or surveyor prepares the plan.
Converting a shop into a garage changes its permitted use. In Friuli Venezia Giulia the rules are in the regional building code, Regional Law 19 of 2009. For the change of use alone, a certified notice to the council (known as SCIA) is enough. If the unit is split into several garages or the openings on the façade change, a building permit is usually required. In historic and protected areas, a permit is also required when the change of use is part of a renovation.
In Trieste's historic centre, ground-floor openings can be widened but not added. In the land registry, the unit moves from category C/1, shops, to C/6, garages.
Law 122 of 1989 allows parking to be created in ground-floor units even where the zoning plan wouldn't. There's one condition: the spaces must be legally tied to a home or an office.
Since 2012, a garage created this way can be sold on its own. This is set out in Decree-Law 5 of 2012, converted into Law 35 of 2012. But the buyer must tie it to a nearby home or office in the same municipality. In central Trieste, the zoning plan only allows new garages of this kind.
In practice, your buyers are the neighbours, and you need to plan for them from the start.
If the unit is in a condominium, its rules matter. Some prohibit any use other than the original one. For parking under the 1989 law, the owners' meeting decides by the majority set out in article 1136, second paragraph, of the Italian civil code. It also matters whether cars would cross shared spaces such as the entrance hall or the courtyard.
On one side are the costs: design and permits, building work, council fees, wiring and plumbing, automatic doors, and sometimes fire protection work.
On the other is what each finished parking space or garage is worth in your area.
The deciding figure is the average price each space has to sell for to cover all the costs. If that price is close to local prices, the risk is high. If it's well below them, there's room to make it work.
What a unit could become can be worth more than what it is today.
An empty ground-floor commercial unit. As a shop, it found no buyers.
The study showed that eighteen parking spaces could be created, a mix of open spaces and lock-up garages.
The total costs, purchase included, were in the region of half a million euros.
The outcome: the owners received an offer to buy.
The owners didn't have a shop that was hard to sell. They had eighteen parking spaces waiting to be designed.
It doesn't pay if street access can't be authorised. It doesn't pay if there's no shortage of parking in the area and nobody nearby needs a garage. It doesn't pay if the building work costs more than the spaces would earn.
In those cases we'll tell you straight away. The other options for an empty unit are on the page Empty shop or warehouse.
For your unit, the preliminary study won't tell you exactly how many spaces will fit. It tells you whether it's worth investing in a design and a more detailed study, or whether you'd be better off looking at another option.
The exact number of spaces requires the in-depth study, with a full measured survey of the unit.
You read it. It's yours to keep. You decide whether to go ahead. If you like the way we work, we'll give you a quote for the in-depth study.
The Preliminary Feasibility Study is not a formal appraisal, an official valuation, an architectural design, a building quote or an estate agency agreement. We don't ask for exclusivity and you don't sign anything.
Often, yes. Four things decide it: room to manoeuvre, access from the street, fire safety and the council's rules. If the unit is in a condominium, the condominium rules matter too. The 1989 Italian parking law helps, because it allows parking on the ground floor even where the local zoning plan wouldn't, provided the spaces are tied to a home or an office. If you'd like to know what applies to your unit, call us.
There's no single figure that applies to everyone. The building work is the largest part: flooring, doors, wiring and plumbing, sometimes structural work and fire protection. The figure to look at isn't the cost on its own. It's the cost compared with what finished garages sell for in your area.
Yes, since 2012, if it was created under the parking law. This is set out in Decree-Law 5 of 2012, converted into Law 35 of 2012. The buyer must tie the garage to a nearby home or office in the same municipality, and the notary records this in the deed of sale.
It depends on the size. Garages with more than 300 square metres of covered area are subject to inspections by the fire brigade. Below that threshold, the project must still meet fire safety rules, and your engineer or surveyor prepares the fire safety plan.
Yes. The Preliminary Feasibility Study is free, with no conditions and no commitment. If you then want an in-depth study, we'll give you a quote and you decide. If we see no realistic option at all, we won't write the document: we'll tell you on the phone and won't waste your time. The preliminary study also helps us decide whether it makes sense to work together. We only get paid later, and only if you decide to go ahead. You receive the quote together with the first document, before you decide anything.
No. We don't handle property sales and we earn no commission when your property is sold. We look at the property, work out what it costs and what it could earn, and tell you in writing what can be done with it and who you'd need to do it. Then we work alongside the professionals involved: surveyors, architects, valuers, accountants and, where needed, estate agents.
We answer the phone ourselves. If we're out on a site visit, we'll call you back the same day.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Italian time. Outside those hours, message us on WhatsApp and we'll call you back the next working day.
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