A high-end real estate ecosystem

Noting that the high-end luxury real estate market was desperately lacking in services a few years ago, Florian Steiger set up a shape-shifting company with the ability to manage every project from A (for Alps) to Z (for Zermatt). Having since joined forces with Mario Julen, the company now operates in Le Valais’ three flagship resorts: Zermatt, Verbier and Crans-Montana.

It’s a lovely story. Though Florian Steiger boasts 12 solid years of experience in the high-end luxury real estate market, he hails from an entirely different world, having cut his teeth in the music industry. After retiring from the business, he took a little time off in the mountains before realising that was where his future lay.
The real estate venture he set up was different from the outset. “I had a slightly offbeat view of things, and the company quickly set about adopting an alternative and more inclusive approach,” he explained. Its modus operandi is to support its customers and respond to their many needs before, during and after the creation of their real estate projects.
Rather than focus on the sale and nothing else, he developed a comprehensive range of services through a vast network of partnerships: legal and tax information, construction site supervision for building and renovation projects, coordination with project managers and architects, asset maintenance, rental management and the provision of hotel-related services; in short, everything that, to some extent or other, is involved in the whole real estate life cycle.
The Verbier-based Steiger teamed up with the Zermatt-based Mario Julen in 2012. Together, they have developed a powerful strike force on the high-end – very high-end, for that matter – luxury real estate scene. In the process, they have become indispensable allies for wealthy clients looking for shelter in the very finest resorts Le Valais has to offer.

Florian Steiger, who are your privileged partners?
We’re working with a group of professionals who make up a whole ecosystem of luxury real estate. For architectural projects we work with Studio Comina, which is the biggest in Le Valais. For catering, it’s Haute Montagne, an industry benchmark, who provide the services. And as for brokerage services, we’ve developed an exclusive partnership with Cardis Sotheby’s International Realty in Zermatt, Verbier and now Crans-Montana. We also make it a priority to work with local specialist construction companies and we strive to promote local materials, all with the aim of being coherent and promoting sustainable development. Nearly all of our developments are Minergie-approved as well.

Can you tell us more about your projects?
It usually takes several years for a real estate project to come to fruition, from the original idea through to its execution. In Zermatt, we’re putting the finishing touches to the last of the seven 7 Heavens chalets, a complex that is ideally situated in the centre of the resort, right next to the Sunnegga cable car (all seven chalets have a floor area of over 500m2). We’re currently working on a new and utterly unique property in the heart of the village. It’s called the Chalet du Centre and it has a swimming pool, spa, hammam, home cinema room, wine cellar and studio for the staff. In conjunction with that we’re working with the Parisian interior designer Pierre Yovanovitch on the Nivalia project, which is a hamlet of nine mazots, each with a floor area of around 400m2. We’re also totally refurbishing the Alpina Savoy Hotel in Crans-Montana. It’s a big project and it should be complete in four to five years’ time.

Who are your customers?
We’re lucky in that we have a stable customer base that is relatively immune to economic crises. It’s mostly European, though we also have clients from North and South America, the Middle East and Asia. With the current changes to business practices and communications, some entrepreneurs can spend two or three months in their properties, in the resort, and make a few round trips just to check that their business is going as it should. Switzerland offers a sense of security and they see it as a haven where they can get away from it all and spend time with their families, which is something they value.

So their motivation is essentially personal in nature?
Yes, out-and-out investors are in the minority. That said, most of the owners appreciate the fact that they can leave their properties in our hands when they’re away. Hybrid hospitality is a concept that’s growing here, as it is elsewhere in the world. The 7 Heavens is an example of just such a project, as it combines business and pleasure, luxuriousness and profitability.