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SHOWCASEMALTA
EXPO 2020 DUBAI
DHALIA
The Time for Quality For everything there is a time prescribed and now, according the Dhalia CEO Alan Grima, is the time for quality. Showcase Dubai met up with the driving force behind one of Malta’s most prestigious real estate agents. He was emphatic that property in Malta is still a very solid investment and that the unique selling point has to be quality, both in terms of construction as well as in terms of quality of life.
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n Norse mythology, the god Loki was considered as the great disruptor. If one were to believe in mythology, then Covid-19 must surely have been an agent of Loki. Alan Grima, CEO of the prestigious Dhalia Group, noted the huge impact which the pandemic had even on the unlikely market of real estate. A huge impact in every aspect of the commercial real estate market, was the way Mr Grima described it. Led by the dramatic impact on the tourism sector, which, for Malta, generates a great part of the economy, employees were increasingly encouraged to work from home. Before the pandemic, remote working was only for the select few, particularly in the tech industries such as in iGaming, digital advertising companies and FinTech. This shift, from working continuously, day in day out, from an office, to now working from a laptop/desktop at home, was a seismic shift. “It is set to change the island’s commercial property market in a variety of ways,” observed Mr Grima. Changing trends
The office sector, noted Mr Grima has changed over the past eighteen months or so. Many companies have realized that remote working actually works and they started to downsize their offices. He observed that the demand for office space is still there but it is changing its mien. Gone are the days of the large bustling corporate offices. In their stead, Mr Grima is observing a growth in serviced offices. This is particularly important for start-up businesses and those who take up the digital nomad lifestyle. Serviced offices provide common facilities such as reception and meeting rooms. Meanwhile, the smaller companies need to take up only as many rooms as is necessary. “Over the years, the improvements in connectivity infrastructure have come a long way,” explained Mr Grima. “Post Covid-19, although it might be too early to judge, might see a rise in this trend in which short/medium term office rentals will make an increasing amount of the market share which was previously only occupied by long-term lease commitments by many big brands”, said Mr Grima. The recent increase in serviced offices in Malta has been a great success. A number of providers have started to lease out large office and business centres for long periods of time. In turn, these are being sublet to smaller brands looking for short to medium-term solutions for their company offices. As Mr Grima observed, this is not only an important development for the end user of the offices but represents a huge opportunity for those who would like to invest in real estate development in Malta.
