Giorgio Armani to design luxury Rome apartments

Italian designer Giorgio Armani acknowledges the applause at the end of Emporio Armani Spring/Summer 2010 men's collection during Milan Fashion Week June 23, 2009.

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Italian designer Giorgio Armani's home division is to deck out the interior of exclusive apartments in Rome, as part of a project to convert a historical building into a complex of luxury serviced flats.

Some 62 apartments are planned in the Cavour220 project -- a residential block occupying 12,000 sq m (129,200 sq ft) and composed of six linked buildings surrounding a garden.

Each flat will have its own specific ground plan, which can be finalized and furnished to personal tastes on the basis of layouts and finishes proposed by Armani/Casa.

Owners will also enjoy a personal concierge service, available 365 days a year, to help out with maintenance, babysitting, restaurant reservations, theater tickets as well as travel arrangements.

"The scheme was conceived from the desire to transform the ancient buildings of a quarter on the slopes of the Palatine Hill into a prestigious, sophisticated, cutting-edge residential complex," Armani said in a statement.

The complex is located on Via Cavour, that leads to the Coliseum. The project also involves Doughty Hanson & Co European Real Estate Fund II and property developer Europa Risorse. The first apartments will be ready for occupation in the first half of 2010.

(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, editing by Paul Casciato)