Christie’s International Real Estate in Brussels: opening office

Bieke Peeters
20 June 2024

A year after launching our exclusive partnership with Christie’s International Real Estate, we are opening the first Belgian affiliate under the flag of the renowned luxury brand. And that in the beautiful Avenue Louise in Brussels in collaboration with Jean-Marc Delcroix. “With 20 years of expertise in the luxury segment, Jean-Marc Delcroix is the ideal person to position us on the Brussels market. He is therefore a strong asset as Managing Partner in our team,” echoes our CEO Roel Druyts.

Our ambition is to be nationally active in real estate and insurance brokerage. An ambition we are living up to and leading to significant growth. This is evidenced by the majority stake of merchant bank Rotschild & Co, the 14 acquisitions over the past 2 years in the insurance landscape as well as the acquisition of the exclusive licence to promote the prestigious Christie’s International Real Estate brand in our country.

International prestige in home country

With 900 offices and 13,000 brokers in 50 countries, the Christie’s International Real Estate network is one of the undisputed world leaders in the multi-million dollar housing segment. Propagating the brand and its reputation also in our country is the icing on the cake for Hillewaere Real Estate, with which we remain committed to luxury real estate.

“We are now a year into the partnership and it is very nice to be able to help carry the Christie’s International Real Estate label from our position in luxury real estate,” comments our CEO Roel Druyts. “At the start of this collaboration, the intention was to open a Brussels office, and we are now delivering on that promise with Jean-Marc Delcroix joining our team. Thanks to his experience in luxury real estate, in the Brussels market and surrounding areas, we will no doubt get off to a flying start.”

The perfect match

Managing Partner Jean-Marc Delcroix, who spent the last seven years as Sales Director at Brussels Sotheby’s International Realty, says he is taking on a great new challenge with his move to Christie’s International Real Estate. “From my first meeting with Hillewaere’s management, it was clear to me that we would create a new dynamic together. Hillewaere is constantly growing and has extensive expertise in insuring luxury goods such as paintings and cars, with a direct link to art and Christie’s Auction House,” so says Jean-Marc Delcroix.

“It is an honour and a great challenge for me to open the first Christie’s International Real Estate office in Belgium. The mix between the strength of Hillewaere and the prestige of Christie’s International Real Estate will allow us to take a leadership position in the luxury real estate market across the country. Our commitment is to offer exclusive properties, catering to both buyers and sellers’ wants and needs by finding the right property every time. I feel that through all this, we therefore do the best job there is,” Delcroix says.

Rapid expansion of the Belgian network and synergy with the art world

With the opening of the first Brussels office under the Christie’s International Real Estate banner, we are further expanding Hillewaere’s network. Our office is located at 418 Avenue Louise, at the same address as the Christie’s Belgium auction house. A match made in heaven, according to Astrid Centner, director of auction house Christie’s Belgium & Luxembourg. “We are excited to join forces from the auction house and write a new chapter with Christie’s International Real Estate and Hillewaere. It’s about creating a synergy between our two offices, maximising opportunities to provide a comprehensive and high-quality service to our auction house clients on the one hand and luxury real estate on the other,” echoes director Astrid Centner.

“Both worlds are so close to each other. The valuation of an art collection sometimes goes hand in hand with the sale of a property, and conversely, when selling a house, an inventory of the artworks may be necessary. It is therefore clear that the arrival of Jean-Marc Delcroix will further boost the quality of our service on a larger scale,” she continues.

That it is a separate world is something our CEO Roel Druyts also knows. “Selling prestige goods requires a specific approach and knowledge and a lot of experience in understanding the world of potential buyers and sellers. We also see this in our other offices, where eight of our employees deal exclusively with this type of property. For Christie’s International Real Estate, we are looking for similar profiles who value integrity and discretion and for whom real estate, architecture and art are a real passion,” he concludes.

Christie’s International Real Estate Brussels
Avenue Louise 418
1050 Brussels
brussels@christiesrealestatebelgium.be
0032 2 808 03 64

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