Denis Šikljan in Yachts Magazine
Investor from the island of Krk is the synonym for luxury properties in northern Adriatic, while his company Degrad Development Group, besides the construction of high quality real estate, is also involved in development and management of investment projects.
We talked with the owner of the company Degrad Development Group, extremely well represented in “its” surroundings in the northern Adriatic, on real estate market, the most attractive locations in the Adriatic as well as on the construction and sale of luxury facilities, especially exclusive villas, design apartments and Mediterranean stone houses.
Is the recovery of real estate market looming? Can we expect the return of the “golden age” before 2008, at least in a certain extent?
It would be very ungrateful to predict any future, but the indications are good. However, not because of ourselves, but because of really apparent economic recovery in Western Europe and low interest rates on savings which motivates people to re-invest in real estate.
Your company constructs real estate only for customers with high purchasing power, do you manage to find customers for this type of real estate?
Unfortunately, I have to disappoint you in terms of high purchasing power. Namely, we are building properties for clients with medium and higher purchasing power, not the high price real estate, whose prices are counted in today’s world in the millions of euros, while our prices are significantly cheaper.
Therefore, it is the matter of perception. What we consider high is not that high in the developed world. However, we manage to find the customers for each of our projects. They come from the neighboring countries, currently mostly from Germany, but also from Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine... Our best recommendations are our past projects and many satisfied customers, as well as our involvement in the after-sales in a form of creating a long term relationship with each individual customer. We are very focused in project preparation, as well as in the very realization. Our customers are a part of the team what they recognize and take as a guarantee that they will get more than what they expected.
How interesting is Adriatic to the property buyers?
The answer is not very easy. Adriatic is a very attractive, it has a beautiful nature, but there is no contents and entertainment. Destinations are poor. Namely, the question of destination is crucial. Everyone wants to spend quality time in a nice destination as either tourist or property owner. This is something we lack. We have degraded the destinations with poor offer, illegal construction and poor management. We all know very well that architecture is an essential element of destination, and it makes a destination desirable, pleasant and attractive. We have not yet irreversibly destroyed our destinations, but in the forthcoming times, we have to be very smart in their development. We must have a goal, which is to be at the top because we have the potential.
Where do you get ideas for new projects?
We do not copy the projects, but we follow the trends. We are visiting fairs around the world, following the new paradigm of architecture associated with new ways of living and housing, and we are designing new projects two years prior to the realization. We are currently working on a project Lunta Mare, which we are keeping in secret for the time being, and this project will be launched in 2016. It is a settlement with unique appearance. We are also preparing projects for 2018.
What are you currently working on?
These days we are involved in moving-in for the Villas Soto Herbe, a village of stone villas in the western part of the island. All the villas are sold and we have orders for two more that we will build next year. In addition to design, quality and perfect location, what is new in this project is that we have built the charging stations for electric cars. We are also in an advanced stage of construction of our Villa Bianca, in Baška. This project was developed by the architect Idis Turato and we have “clicked” already at the first presentation of the project. I believe that this project will bring us the Design Award. How successful this project is, proves the fact that we have already sold half of the apartments, as well as the most expensive one – the penthouse. In September, we start with the construction of another top quality facility – Villa Belle, as well as a mini village with four houses by the waterfront in Malinska.