When CGI Merchant Group closed one of the year's highest-profile real-estate deals, the brand and the platform behind it had to match the scale of the acquisition. Italo joined as CMO and built both — fast.
In 2022, CGI Merchant Group acquired the lease to the Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C. for $375 million — in partnership with Hilton and with GSA approval of the lease transfer — and rebranded the property as the Waldorf Astoria Washington D.C. That deal is exactly the kind of institutional-grade opportunity the Access platform was built to open up.
Sources: Washington Post · UPI
Access by CGI was a real-estate investment platform — a fintech-adjacent product that let everyday investors get exposure to institutional-grade deals like the Waldorf. Italo architected the brand and, in a three-month window, built the platform to carry it.
Built the Access by CGI identity during the acquisition — a brand that could stand next to a landmark asset.
Designed and built the investment product itself, on a compressed three-month timeline.
Led marketing and brand as CMO through the launch window, shaping how the platform told its story to investors. [ITALO: confirm specific contributions]
The Waldorf Astoria D.C. — the actual property behind the flagship deal — became the visual anchor of the platform, listed as an investment the way it deserved to be seen.
A $375M building doesn't just close a deal. It proves the whole thesis — that the right people should get access to the rooms they were kept out of.
When the deal is big and the window is short, you need one team that can architect the brand and build the product it lives in. That's what we do.
