In 2018, in Cannes, at the MIPIM Awards ceremony – the annual gathering of some 24,000 property professionals from around the world, a Brussels-based project won the award for best residential development. It was chosen from among 44 competing projects, selected by a jury of 12 international experts. That project is the Îlot Sacré. And behind the Îlot Sacré stands Galika Human Estate: a small Belgian firm, founded ten years earlier by Anne-Catherine Galetic, an architect and urban planner, a developer by conviction.

“It’s incredible. Unthinkable for a small company like ours. ”

She says it herself, without false modesty. Because the property sector, like many others, tends to confuse the size of a company with the ambition of its projects. Galika is proof to the contrary: excellence can be achieved with a (very) small team.

What makes the difference

It’s not the budget. It’s not the reputation. It’s a philosophy: the quality of a project isn’t measured by its price per square metre, but by the quality of living it offers per square metre. Every Galika project is conceived as an act of urban planning, integrated into its neighbourhood, open to nature, and (eco-)designed to last.

For a long time, the ability to develop large-scale projects was directly linked to financial clout and the size of the teams. This logic remains partly true, particularly in a context where access to finance has become more demanding and where risks are increasingly regulated. But it tends to obscure another dimension, just as crucial: the ability to uphold a clear vision and maintain high standards throughout a project’s development. It is in this area that smaller-scale organisations can make a difference.

When she founded Galika Human Estate in 2008, Anne-Catherine Galetic chose to build a company capable of making decisions differently. Not in opposition to market constraints, but through a different lens, where a project’s value is not limited to its profitability or size, but to its impact on the city. Anne-Catherine Galetic founded Galika in 2008, starting from scratch. No family safety net, no inherited capital. Just a clear vision of what property development should be and the determination to put it into practice according to her own values, which she called the ‘Human Estate’.

A broader shift within the sector

What Anne-Catherine Galetic’s career path illustrates goes beyond the individual level. It is part of a wider transformation within the property sector.

Today, the value of a project is no longer measured solely by its scale or its return on investment. It is increasingly linked to its ability to blend into its surroundings, address environmental challenges and create sustainable spaces. In this context, the size of the company becomes just one factor among many, but it is no longer a limiting factor in itself.

Smaller firms can therefore take on ambitious projects, provided they compensate with a clear vision, rigorous execution and the ability to defend their choices.

Another way of defining impact

The experience of Galika Human Estate ultimately brings to mind a key point: in the property sector, impact does not depend solely on the resources deployed, but on how they are used.

A small-scale company can not only survive in an environment dominated by major players, but also make a significant contribution to it. Provided it does not seek to replicate existing models, but instead builds on what makes it unique.

🎥 The full interview with Anne-Catherine Galetic can be found in our Inspiring Leaders series, where she reflects on the choices that have shaped her career and the realities of property development today.