“Just talking to you about our business model gives me goosebumps,” says Alexandro Dozzo, who is absolutely convinced that office property is now an experience in its own right.

A former employee of Cushman & Wakefield, who has also worked at Technopolis and Gridx, Alexandro Dozzo is a staunch advocate of an approach inspired by the hospitality industry: creating an experience even before the employee steps through the company’s doors.

“The office is no longer just an office.” Alexandro Dozzo wants to leave no room for doubt. In his view, the commercial property market is currently undergoing a transformation comparable to that experienced by the hotel industry several decades ago: location and the building itself are no longer enough; it is now the experience that will make the difference.

To create something meaningful

The idea came to him gradually as he followed an unconventional career path. Trained in the hospitality industry, having worked in the medical sector and then in property consultancy, he gradually moved away from simply marketing properties. “The time came when I no longer wanted to sell square metres. I wanted to create something meaningful.”

His observation is simple: for years, in a market where properties were let almost automatically, landlords and investors did not really need to win over their tenants.

“People want to be told a story,” he sums up.

An office block as a place to live

Today, with increased competition and companies carefully weighing up every euro they invest, the approach has changed completely. In his view, an office building should be conceived as a living space.

“Well-being doesn’t start in the offices. It starts the moment you step into the building.”

In practical terms, this involves a concierge service, a real barista rather than a coffee machine, shared meeting rooms, events, à la carte services and daily activities designed to foster a sense of community amongst the businesses on the site.

“A building should no longer be seen as a product to be filled. It must become an experience,” insists Alexandro Dozzo.

What about the employees’ enjoyment?

He says he put this philosophy into practice over several years at Technopolis, where he was able to develop a genuine policy of services for tenants. Beyond the square metres let, his main aim at the time was to build loyalty amongst the companies already based there.

According to him, day-to-day frustrations are often far more decisive than the rent: a poorly managed car park, faulty air-conditioning, mediocre catering or technical issues that go unresolved. “It’s all these little details that ultimately drive a company to move.”

From property owner to community builder

With GetFullyLet, Alexandro Dozzo now aims to support property owners far beyond simply marketing their properties. The idea is to analyse a building as a whole (architecture, uses, services, marketing strategy, target audience for future tenants) in order to develop a compelling narrative around the asset.

“We need to stop thinking of the office as simply a box into which we put desks.” His approach also involves selecting the right partners – from estate agents to service providers – so that everyone contributes to enhancing the building’s appeal.

“Everyone has their own job. The owner can’t do everything,” he concludes with a smile.

A long-term evangelism effort

Nevertheless, Alexandro Dozzo acknowledges that this approach still requires some persuasion on the part of certain investors.

“For years, everything worked very well. So why change?” In his view, many people still regard a building as merely a financial asset, even though businesses’ expectations are changing rapidly.

GetFullyLet’s full-scale pilot project is now The Henry, a building on Boulevard Prince Henri in Luxembourg City, where it is gradually rolling out this new philosophy combining hospitality, services and daily activities. However, its ambition extends beyond this single project. “Artificial intelligence will change a great deal. But the essentials will always remain: service and people.”

For Alexandro Dozzo, the future of commercial property may therefore not hinge solely on energy performance, certifications or rents. It will also depend on a smile at reception, a coffee made by a barista… and that ability – which is, after all, quite rare – to make employees want to come back to the office.