"They’re making what we’ve been dreaming about a reality!" 
In six months, the property developer has signed contracts worth €250m with construction companies, just as it promised when it laid the symbolic foundation stone last September. “We wanted to reassure these companies,” he said. “It’s clear that we haven’t been able to take on small companies directly because they don’t have the capacity to carry out such projects, but subcontractors are being organised behind that.”
This tool is breaking down and we need to push!
“But this is the moment when the players who can afford it have to pull their punches and not take advantage of the situation,” Lux said. “It's time to push! A project is built with a client, the consulting engineers and the construction company. If the construction company disappears or weakens, we’ll have big problems. We used to build 4,000 housing units a year. Now we need 7,000 units. That’s already a doubling of what we’re doing. But at the moment, construction is barely half of what it was in previous years, at around 2,000 units. This tool is breaking down and we need to push.”
“Courage means accepting that we’re going to pay more than if we waited. Construction prices are going to fall. As far as I’m concerned, they’re going to come down because the market situation is so dramatic.”
Bouwteam to save time
Dreaming that the situation will improve quickly, Lux said, “will remain a dream. The government has provided aid for buyers--fortunately, because everyone was waiting for it--but after that, the aid has to work. As always, you have to try it once, try it twice, for it to work. We’re seeing a bit of a revival, but we need the laws to be passed before we know what the results will be. In the sector, we are members of the chamber of real estate professionals (Chambre immobilière) developers’ section, and we take part in many of the housing roundtable’s working groups. There’s a great deal of openness and listening. It’s pragmatic. The situation is going to improve in terms of procedures and various other things.”
“Today, the partnership covers two aspects”, stated Iko Real Estate’s chief development officer, Sandra Huber. “The first concerns lot 14, which is due to start in June. Then, the second part involves a real bouwteam (construction team), which extends from the very early stages of design, right through to finding solutions. In this first phase, we are experimenting with alternative materials, particularly wood on residential projects. [The architect] 
“Rout Lëns is a complicated and complex project,” Lux stated. “The bouwteam may be rare in Luxembourg, but it’s not at all rare abroad. This should enable us to move ahead more quickly.” The concept, used for half a century in the Netherlands, refers to the integration of different partners at the design stage. If all goes well, their pooled expertise will help to avoid problems during construction.
“We are in a context where we need to refresh our practices, and this partnership is really about that: how we, as property developers, enhance our know-how and support it with expertise undertaken sooner,” Huber said. “This helps to improve the economics of our operations. In this first tranche, for example, we have affordable housing, and there is a real question around the profitability of projects, and how to optimise them, while maintaining a high level of quality and specifications.”
60% pre-sold
“The market is picking up,” Lux commented. “We have made provision for certain benefits for first movers. We’re thinking about ending them, because we’ve reached a rate that suits us.”
“Our first phase of 50,000m2 is about 60% pre-sold, simply because we have a partnership with the City of Esch, and we are building nearly 300 homes on their behalf. The Liicht [apartment block] is currently being marketed. We will be launching D’Haus this summer,” stated Huber. “The idea is to start levelling work in June, with completion scheduled for the end of 2026. For lots 2 and 6, it’s more likely to start at the end of 2026 for reception at the end of 2028. We’re going to have a first phase of 50,000 m2, plus the school and the renovation of the heritage buildings. We’re talking about 60,000m2 that will be completed by the end of 2028, including all the roads, public spaces and the central square.
That will already create “a whole neighbourhood,” said Lux. “The people who have signed with us know Esch well. They love this town. They have or have had ties here. We’re also seeing people from Luxembourg City starting to take an interest in Esch, certainly for reasons of price and purchasing power.”
Originally published in French by Paperjam and translated for Delano
