Crosspoint Real Estate, an international associate of Savills in Romania, has assisted the sale of the Bank of Cyprus building from SIF Banat Crişana to a firm belonging to a Romanian businessman. Crosspoint negotiated on behalf of SIF Banat Crişana both in the acquisition stage of the building, and later at the sale stage to the private investor.
The building located on 187B Calea Dorobanti, in the vicinity of the Romanian Television, has a built area of 2,800 sqm and a net area of 2,283 sqm. The property was built in 2005 and was used exclusively by Bank of Cyprus to host its headquarters in Romania. It benefits from a privileged position, close to Aviatorilor Metro Station and Herastrau Park.
Codrin Matei, Managing Partner at Crosspoint, Head of Capital Markets, responsible for the successful completion of the transaction, declares: “Such properties are rare on the market, the demand being high, from many investors. The former Bank of Cyprus’ headquarter is located in a sought-after area, with a floor plate suitable for smaller companies, and if we also consider the value of the transaction, all these factors created the ideal product for a private investor who intended to secure a trophy asset. We are in touch with several businessmen, who sold part or all of their businesses developed over the years, and now they are interested in placing their earnings in such assets. We have several active sales mandates for other office buildings, products that are likely more suitable for investment funds, but we have noticed that private investors can be more competitive than such institutions, that have certain criteria, which often can be too rigorous for the market today.”
Bogdan Drăgoi, President of SIF Banat Crişana, adds: “We are an investment firm and we constantly look at opportunities, and the real estate market can offer such products. We are delighted that we have been able to bring real benefits both to our company and to our shareholders. Our interest in real estate investment remains active and we analyse all the proposals that come to our attention. Even though we have a portfolio of assets that we are currently managing and we have not been a traditional investor in the real estate market, we cannot neglect the development of recent years in this area. We chose to collaborate with Crosspoint, an experienced market consultant, who professionally and quickly executed the structure of this transaction.”
