The historic downtown Fredericksburg Square property has a new owner.
Luigi Castiglia, the longtime owner of the William Street restaurant that still bears his name, bought the 19,000-square-foot building at 525 Caroline St. last week. The sales price for the 0.45-acre property was $1.9 million, according to Fitzhugh Johnson III, whose Johnson Realty Advisors firm had the listing.
Castiglia spoke about his plans for the property Monday afternoon while cleaning it up. He intends to lease it out to someone interested in using it as an event space and will list it with James Sill of Plank Realty within the next month.
Castiglia thinks it would work well if several downtown restaurant owners partnered to lease the space, and then used it for events, receptions and meals. Formerly the Elks Lodge, the property has served more recently as a wedding venue, brewery and restaurant. It has a full kitchen and multiple event spaces. Castiglia plans to use the land around the building as surface parking for events.
In October, Castiglia sold Castiglia’s Italian Restaurant at 324 William St. to Riphean Hospitality, but he continues to own the William Street building and lease it out. Castiglia said he wants to stay busy, and the Fredericksburg Square acquisition gives him another outlet. He also has been doing catering through his Pizza Napoli business, and he owns the 528 Italian American Restaurant in Tappahannock.
Bill Freehling covers local business for the Fredericksburg Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
