February 12th, 2022 - Stancija Grande near Stara Savudrija, one of Istria’s most beautiful historical residential objects, is about to be renovated and developed into a luxury tourist destination 

Namely, the estate in north-western Istria is to be transformed into an exclusive tourist resort and golf course, as envisioned in the project launched back in 2006. As reported by Glas Istre, the investment is worth between 80 and 90 million euro, and is split between two companies, Golf Stancija d.o.o. and Golf Hotel Savudrija d.o.o. so that the project could be more easily managed.

The estate spans over some 70 hectares, where the investors plan to build an 18-hole golf course, a five star hotel with a capacity of 200 beds, and catering facilities. The crown jewel of the estate, the 19th-century palace designed in a neoclassical style and also known as Villa Cesare, will house the most luxurious accommodation units within the resort.

The project is headed by the same management team that successfully implemented the Skipper project, the construction of Hotel Kempinski and of the golf course in Savudrija (Crveni Vrh). 

‘The business plan that was conceived, financed and launched by the company Pelagius d.o.o. in 2006 was scrapped a few years ago for objective reasons, and we are now starting from scratch. It’s important to point out that this project has nothing to do with mass-construction of apartments on the coast, and is subject to supervision of authorities that care for historical and cultural heritage’, said Ljubica Marfan, member of the board of Golf Stancija d.o.o.

Stancija Grande was taken over by the military during World War II, and has been left to ruin since the 80s.

The gorgeous estate is finally about to have its original grandeur restored owing to the new development project.

‘Stancija Grande was built in the 19th century as the estate of the Fabris family, the counts of Begliano from Friuli. At the end of the 19th century, it was sold to landowner Alfredo Cesare and his family, who restored it at the turn of the 20th century, hence its other popular name Villa Cesare. It’s interesting that the Cesare family was an initiator of tourism in these parts in the early 20th century, having owned two villas, Villa Lotte near Stara Savudrija and Villa Ziani near Valfontana, with the latter built exclusively for tourism purposes. With our project, we will essentially give the ruined building of Stancija Grande its historical splendour back, but in a new tourist edition, with respect to the continuity of tourism development in these parts’, said Marfan.

The architectural integrity of the building, as well as its layout, will be preserved according to strict conservation regulations, with the estate seamlessly integrated into the landscape as whole.

According to Marfan, negotiations have been started with the Four Seasons to manage the new luxury property. The hotel chain was reported to be breaking into the Croatian market on several occasions, but hasn’t as of yet, so the investors now hope to win them over with their project in Istria.

A new golf course, envisioned as one of the most beautiful golf courses in Europe, will be built in the area between Stancija Grande and the new hotel, some two kilometres from the coastline. Marfan pointed out that this is primarily a greenfield project that is very environmentally friendly, as reported by Glas Istre in a more detailed feature.

‘The entire project is being developed based on the principles of sustainable development and using state-of-the-art technology. Where golf courses are considered, this includes desalination of sea water for the purposes of course maintenance, use of solar energy for production of electricity, and installation of glass facades with integrated devices for storage and conversion of solar energy. We also plan to have water-purifying toilets installed wherever possible, with the goal of saving water’, said Marfan.

The golf course was designed by Diethard Fahrenleitner from St. Johann in Tirol, the architect who previously designed the golf course in the aforementioned Kempinski complex in Istria. It’s set to be quite a scenic location; the coastline is nearby, and the investors are planning to plant olive groves and vineyards throughout the course as a nod to the estate’s history: Stancija Grande used to be a combination of a residential estate used by the owner and his guests, and an agricultural estate that employed the local population. 

Last autumn, Miro Oblak sold the project managed by the Pelagius company to Konrad Ackermann from Switzerland. Marfan explained that Croatia has become a very attractive holiday destination to Switzerland over the last two years, and as such interesting to Swiss investors. Istria holds the top spot due to its geostrategic position, i.e. proximity, but also for its hospitality and natural beauty which justify the confidence of the growing number of guests who are choosing the Istrian peninsula as their holiday destination.

It has also won over Ackermann who decided on this business partnership. 'In addition to their own capital, they will also be investing credit funds as they cooperate with the two largest Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse. The directors of these banks have already visited us and are satisfied with the plans we presented’, said Marfan, adding the company absolutely believes in their vision for the new elite resort in Savudrija.

February 1, 2020 - The construction of the Stancija Grande Golf Complex near Vrsar, with an investment led by Maistra, has been in the public eye for a long time, especially for the residents of Vrsar. 

Namely, Glas Istre reports that a golf complex with a 27-hole golf course should be built on an area of one hundred hectares, in the area determined by the Spatial Plans of the County of Istria and the Municipality of Vrsar, based on the prepared Environmental Impact Study and Urban Planning Plan (UPU).

The same documents envisage landscaping along the golf course with four reservoirs that would be filled with collected and purified stormwater, sanitary, technological and drainage waters and from underground sources. The construction part of the complex includes a five-star hotel with a capacity of 200 beds with accompanying facilities, which should be high quality with a diverse offer, and an integral part of the complex. The existing residential building at Stancija Grande would be transformed into a golf clubhouse, with a golf academy, the Murtić Gallery and a service complex with a nursery.

The golf course would be a Championship Golf Course, signed by world-renowned golf player and golf course designer José María Olazába. It would not belong to the classic "tourist" courses found in most golf destinations in southern Europe. The landscape, course, hotel, clubhouse and related facilities are designed to allow the most demanding professional golf competitions organized by the European PGA Tour, which would place Stancija Grande in the top 100 courses in the world.

The Stancija Grande Golf Complex will be connected to the southern main access road by extending the existing road from four to eight meters, while the construction of the western access road is the responsibility of the Municipality of Vrsar. The service road to the complex will be built by widening the field road from three to six meters. For connection to the public water supply network of the Istrian water supply system, a water tank and a supply pipeline up to 800 meters long will be constructed, as well as a supply pipeline to the golf complex 500 meters long. HEP will conduct cabling to the golf complex.

The existing quarry at Stancija Grande, which is now practically in the function of a wild landfill, will be arranged and integrated as part of the golf course. 

With the construction of this golf complex, Vrsar would be classified as a golf destination of European and world rank. The broader goal of this project is to diversify the tourist offer, improve the tourist destination and improve the quality of the tourist service in Vrsar, which is known so far, mostly as a quality camping destination. This would also extend the tourist season, and this project aims to implement a new tourist offer in the existing offer, which is geared towards carefully selected groups of higher spending guests.

When asked about the status of the project, public relations associate Vanja Mohorović said that in the next three-year period, out of the planned HRK 4 billion, the Adris group plans as much as HRK 3 billion for tourism, of which HRK 450 million is planned for investments in Vrsar. Three hundred fifty million will be earmarked for the Eden Hotel and Camp Amarin this year, and the renovation of the Panorama and Westin hotels in Zagreb will begin at the end of the year. This year's investments in Vrsar will include the Koversada Naturist Camp and Porto Sole Camp.

"As for inquiries for the Stancija Grande Golf Complex, there are no new facts, and the project will be notified to the public when all its details have been defined," Maistra concluded.

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