MEETING WITH KATIA STALMASHENKA AND MARCO CHIERCHIA, PARTNERS AT MAISON VALLAT IN MONACO
You're be celebrating five years in Monaco, can you tell us about this adventure?
With the VALLAT Group, we have brought our shared ambitions to life by establi- shing ourselves in Monaco, despite the fact that we ope-rate from Saint-Tropez to Cap-Martin. We share the same atta- chment and vision for the principality: real estate as a symbol of architectural renew-al with a modern, sleek design, aiming to enhance. We consider a project by looking at its overall urban impact. Our achievements shine beyond their walls, they are beneficial to all: to the occupants in the first place but also to their neighbors - by ensuring that their views remain in-tact, for example - and more broadly to the neighborhood by bring-ing new services to the community (underground connections, urban links, parking lots...). This unique approach is exciting because it involves uniting people well beyond our plots.
What is your core business?
We have two main activities: property trading and development. The former involves buying apartments, often old, to give them a new lease on life with modern materials and contemporary design. We sometimes completely transform spaces, by knocking down walls to enlarge rooms or by creating additional surfaces on roofs or terraces. In five years, we have already renovated several apart-ments, including a very beautiful project last year, turning an almost dilapidated apartment into a magnificent villa with a garden, which is very rare in Monaco. The development operations, on the other hand, unfold on the scale of a building. As the Monaco sector is very tight, this generally involves demolishing an existing building to rebuild, but this is not the case in all the destinations where we operate internationally.
And how do you choose the locations for your projects
VALLAT focuses exclusively on prime locations, in very selective and unique markets, frequented by an extremely wealthy clientele. We are talking about billionaires, royal families, and major international busi-nessmen. Our locations range from Monaco to Saint-Tropez, Courch-evel, Sardinia, and Miami, always in highly sought-after places.
And what are the group's international ambitions?
Although we are already well-established, we are developing at an impressive speed. We are members of Leading Real Estate Compa-nies of the World, and we have just participated in their summit in Dubai. For the future, we work and develop according to demand and market trends. Our volume of work is constantly increasing, and our ambitions are growing accordingly. Our goal is rather to carry out many large-scale, innovative, and sustainable projects. We want to be at the forefront of ecology, perhaps even revolution-ary in this field. We already have exciting projects on the horizon, and this is the path we are currently charting.
The ecological aspect is very interesting. Have you already inte-grated these principles into your recent projects?
Yes, this is a point on which we are uncompromising. We strive to reduce the impact of our projects from design to occupation: waste treatment on construction sites, choice of materials, re-duction of consumption through home automation... We are currently working on a major project with renowned American architects known for their sustainable practices. This project includes a team dedicated to the environment, as Monaco is a very demanding principality in terms of sustainability and green energy. We are exploring advanced scientific options. Our goal is to create an ecological tower in Monaco, one of the first in the principality and one of the most beautiful.
What sets you apart from other real estate operators?
In total symbiosis with Joffray, we create value where there is none or no longer any. We are on the lookout for projects that are complicated, at a standstill, with no way forward. These are the complex situations at which we excel. As a true unifier, fa-cilitator, we unlock desperate projects by intervening as need-ed on technical, urban or administrative plans to give birth to majestic properties where there was previously only desolation. These are often very ambitious challenges that bring immense satisfaction. Also, we believe it is essential that our achievements are win-win. Everyone involved in our projects - whether they are clients, neighbors, partners or communities - must come out winners, and with the greatest satisfaction.
"We want to be at the forefront of ecology, perhaps even revolutionary in this field. This is the path we are currently charting."