Roberto Bergonzi, 40 years of residential projects in the Mediterranean

In this episode, discover the story of Roberto Bergonzi, founder of the Azur Estates Group.

Roberto Bergonzi has been active in real estate investment and development since the early 1980s. With more than 40 years of experience, mostly in Spain, but also in France, Italy and Canada, he has been responsible for the construction of over 3000 properties.

As founder of the Azur Estates Group, Roberto Bergonzi has acquired extensive experience at all levels of the real estate development cycle, overseeing all aspects of real estate development: land acquisition, market analysis, administrative and legal structure, and supervision and coordination of teams and financial partners.

In this episode, Roberto explains: 

• The beginnings of his career in real estate
• The creation of the Azur Estates Group and its DNA
• The great era of construction on the Spanish coast
• The shift in the 2010s to a luxury and high-end market 
• Why invest in the Balearic Islands (focus on Ibiza and Menorca)

Transcript 

Elisa Brevet

Roberto, can you tell us about your background?

Roberto Bergonzi

I am of Canadian origin. I arrived in Spain in the early 80’s and since then I have dedicated myself to the profession of real estate developer.

Elisa Brevet

Can you tell us about the history of the Azur Group, from its beginnings until today?

Roberto Bergonzi

I started in the 80s. It was a learning experience in real estate, which, over the years, has helped us master the profession and the business. At the beginning, Spain had just entered the Common Market. Therefore, it was a lower performing market. From 1990 to 2005, we created a lot of volume, we developed big projects, ranging from 300 to 500 units. In 2005, we made a radical change. We said, “We’re going to aim for fewer units, but focus on the quality and the end customer. We’re going to move to a product that’s a little more luxurious, a little more high-end.” So, we traded a bit of the volume, in terms of square meters of the constructions, for higher sales prices for a market that could meet that level.

Elisa Brevet

Have you evolved in the real estate sector since the beginning of your career and if so, how?

Roberto Bergonzi

We evolved a lot. At the beginning, Spain didn’t have the quality of construction nor the materials nor the processes that existed in the rest of Europe. We quickly adapted to this. There was a big trend in the ’90s and up to 2004-2005, for high volume construction. I think maybe we overdid it, all of us developers, and maybe there was too much construction that was done on the coast. It was a totally different product than what we have today. It was a mass product. In 2005-2006, we saw that we had to get out of this market and we moved to the high-end market. In fact, the real estate crisis in 2010 did not affect us much. We were already working on projects in Ibiza, where the crisis did not have the disastrous effect that it had on the rest of Spain. Since then, we are moving towards a high-end, luxury market, for a northern European market that is quite eager for this type of product.

Elisa Brevet

What is the DNA and strength of the Azur group?

Roberto Bergonzi

Our strength is knowing how to identify the places, the sites for our projects. We worked very hard on the Balearic Islands. As I said, Ibiza was our strong point. I think we have developed some very important projects and continue to do so. 

For two years now, we have been confirming the post-Ibiza trend because, after all, Ibiza is a very mature market at the moment. We are already in Menorca with a new project that we started last year called Arenal. 

We are also making other investments. Since the beginning of 2022, we are working in Marbella on a rather important project, still developed for this clientele. Marbella is a world-renowned market that attracts a luxury, high-end clientele, as we do our projects. We are also looking into other locations. 

We are always looking for privileged places, a little idyllic, because everything goes together. It’s not just the name of the place, but also the location: sea view, beach, surroundings. We always try to balance everything.

Elisa Brevet

And today, what does the Azur Estates Group look like?

Roberto Bergonzi

We have about fifty people that work with us directly as real estate developers.  We also work, indirectly, with about 100 construction subcontractors.

Elisa Brevet

Who are your clients and what do they usually like about Azur Estates?

Roberto Bergonzi

We have a wide range of clients, mostly Northern European. We have always focused on the Belgian, Dutch, French and German markets, as well as the British and Scandinavian markets. So, our main clientele is in these countries, with an age range between 40 and 65 years old. We have a lot of people in their 50s who choose to settle in the sun, to live, to play golf, water activities and enjoy life a little bit.

Elisa Brevet

Do you work with partners?

Roberto Bergonzi

We work with all the major suppliers in the market. For example, we have partnership agreements with Porcelanosa, which supplies us with all the tiles. We also work with the Cosentino group. They are the ones who invented Silestone and are very advanced in all vertical paving for interiors and exteriors. They have magnificent products. We work directly with LG for all the mechanical and air-conditioning aspects. We work with their engineers and look at new trends. This is a major focus for us at this time when energy is very expensive. The environmental part is very important to us.

In some cases, we can’t always deliver unless we work directly with suppliers who have the latest trends. We have agreements with LG and they, with their engineering teams, give us ideal solutions, case by case, depending on the climate situation. Apart from that, we work with Technal for aluminum in facade materials and carpentry. 

These are always prestigious, high quality brands and we maintain this trend in practically everything. We also try to maintain the local character by working with local materials, especially on the islands. We work a lot with local stone. We try to keep the character of the architecture, while building things in a minimalist or modernist way. We like to play a little bit on both. We keep a connection to the land, with finishes that are more focused on high quality rather than trends, but that still complement the property. And I can tell you that the result is excellent. 

Elisa

One last question : you have a new project, Arenal Beach, located in Menorca. What makes the Menorcan market attractive to potential investors today ? 

Roberto: 

In similar projects in Ibiza, our clients who bought three or four years ago are selling today with capital gains of 60-70%. 

In three years, units that were sold for 350 000 to 400,000 euros were resold. Just yesterday, I was told, one was resold for 675,000 euros. So, there is also an investment side that is very interesting. And especially on the islands, because the zoning restrictions are such that this property cannot be duplicated. 

So, there is still an advantage for the buyer who will always get good value for the money and a return on investment afterwards as well.