Members Spotlight – Avenue 77

MORE THAN JUST AN OFFICE

Chris Casapinta, the managing director of Avenue 77 Business Centre, explains how having a purpose-built space has enabled a range of additional offerings.

Picture: Chris Casapinta, Managing Director, Avenue 77

• For those who don’t know your company, can you provide some background?

Avenue 77 offers state-of-the-art office space in a unique setting with commercial spaces located at street level, and four floors of large office spaces that are horizontally connected to accommodate companies needing more space. We also have 3,000 square metres of serviced office space for smaller operations which need a plug-and-play office set up. Avenue 77 also offers meeting and conference room facilities for tenants and even third parties who need a professional set up for meetings, training and any other corporate event.

At design and planning stage we really put the staff of our tenants as a priority. We have built a concept where people can work in a very comfortable environment, with the latest technology and at the same time offer various amenities including a barber, spa, gym and various restaurants.

• Can you share a little-known fact about your company?

The investors, and us as a management team, are not necessarily known as real estate developers. In fact, we all come from an international financial services background. We engaged a team of both local and Belgian architects and designers. The primary goal was to set up an environment where people could work, meet, collaborate and socialise all under one roof.

• What are you currently working on and what are your company’s plans and strategic priorities for the coming years?

Our primary focus is to conclude the remaining outstanding matters with regards to the building. We still have limited spaces available for office and retail areas, so we will continue to focus on commercialising such spaces.

We also ensure we are in daily contact with our tenants to make sure we can address their concerns and their requests, and if necessary, make the appropriate changes to allow our tenants to have a more comfortable experience.

We strive to give a positive contribution to the local office real estate market. Our existing exposure to other European markets may also give us an opportunity to export the brand in other European cities.

• Are there any projects/achievements of your company that you are exceptionally proud of?

The fact that we were able to complete such a large project with a number of challenges! We started excavating the land at the end of 2019. Soon after, we were struck with COVID-19 which brought with it a number of logistical challenges. The pandemic also gave a new perspective for office needs, and we were able to adapt to such demands and attract a prestigious list of tenants.

As mentioned earlier, our background is in international financial services. We used this experience to assist our clients in matters not only related to office space, but to other challenges in setting up a business including administrative, regulatory and fiscal matters. In this way we differentiated our offering and really added value to our tenants.

• What in your opinion makes Malta an effective jurisdiction to set up a business?

We consider Malta to be a good all rounder for investors: Malta offers key advantages:

• General ease of doing business
• Competent professionals in finance, legal and technology
• English being the main business language
• Competitive costs to operate.

• What kind of people/companies in the financial services community would you want to connect with?

At Avenue 77 we are proud to be serving various industries including financial services, aviation, gaming and technology companies. However, being in the financial services industry ourselves, we are keen to see more activity in this industry. Particularly, we look forward to new attractive regulations for investment funds which should be launched soon.

BIO:

Chris Casapinta is the managing director at Avenue 77 Business Centre. After qualifying as a certified public accountant and auditor in 2000, Chris joined PwC. He started his career with the Malta office and later worked in a number of offices in the network till 2010. Most of his time was spent in the audit practice at PwC Luxembourg. He was also involved in a number of capital markets and transactional assignments.

In late 2010, Chris joined Alter Domus to set up the office in Malta. The office grew rapidly and now serves a number of a reputable international clients. The office currently employs over 200 professionals. In 2020, he also had the opportunity to set up the Alter Domus office in Milan.

In April 2023, Chris has resigned from his position in Alter Domus to focus on supporting various private clients. In fact, he sits on a number of boards of both local and international family offices and various asset management firms and financial institutions.