Stéphanie Juan, Partner and head of the “Real estate, construction and urban planning” department of the law firm MOLITOR Avocats à la Cour in Luxembourg, shares her perspective on the real estate and construction market.

This year, you are celebrating your 18-year work anniversary. Such loyalty to a company is increasingly rare these days. How have you achieved this?

I began my professional career with our firm in 2006 after obtaining my doctorate in public law at the University of Metz. Having always been interested in legal matters, becoming a lawyer was a natural choice from my first experience with the profession.

My loyalty is based on different pillars. Above all, it is linked to full adherence to the fundamental values ​​of the firm: service excellence, integrity and trust, teamwork, and approachability. These values ​​motivate my commitment to our clients and colleagues and promote an environment conducive to professional development.

Added to these values ​​are independence of mind and freedom of initiative, which are two strong markers of our firm. I have had the opportunity to be in charge of the real estate department for more than 10 years, to leave my mark on it, and to build a dedicated team.

Finally, giving great importance to the quality of work rather than essentially quantitative objectives is in line with my professional tenets.

Your expertise is in real estate law and construction. Beyond the crisis the sector is currently going through, what trends do you predict for 2024/2025?

Like many European countries, the Luxembourg real estate and construction sector has indeed come to a significant halt since the end of 2021 due to a combination of factors that no longer need to be explained.

These factors have led to the freezing of development projects as well as financial difficulties for players in the construction market and an increase in the number of bankruptcies.

This crisis has naturally affected the transactional aspect of our real estate practice, whereas our support for clients in matters of leases and real estate litigation is conversely sustained.

Finally, we observe two growing trends in parallel. The first relates to the importance of ESG criteria for industry stakeholders. In this context, securing contractual documents (leases, sales contracts, construction contracts) is essential.

The second trend concerns a new real estate offering. Having already emerged in other European countries (Netherlands, France and Belgium), “co-living” is materialising in Luxembourg. Based on an economy of shared living spaces, co-living is aimed at young professionals, as well as people on secondment, or people who do not wish to live alone. Such residences are developing in the Grand Duchy, providing a solution to the problems of tension in the real estate market and diversification of investments.

How does MOLITOR support its clients in this unstable environment?

I could talk to you again about our entrepreneurial spirit or the quality of our teams, which are of course important elements. However, what characterises us and what we instil in our teams is the desire to understand the real needs of clients as well as the constraints they face. Listen, obviously, but above all, ask questions. Being authentically interested allows us to create a lasting and trusting relationship.

Added to this is a conception of time that I would describe as long term. We are not looking at a relationship over the next 6, 12 or 24 months but over the next 3, 5 or even 10 years, reflecting the seniority of our partners and certain members of our teams.

Brand Voice 21rst June 2024 – Paperjam & Delano – Luxembourg