The real estate market across CEE is undergoing a profound transformation, adapting to new economic realities, technological progress, and shifting investor priorities. While traditional sectors continue to face pressure from financing costs, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty, new opportunities are emerging in segments strongly linked to digital transformation and energy transition. Among these, data centres have rapidly become one of the most attractive asset classes for investors seeking long-term growth and resilient returns, writes Vlad Bălan, Director, Advisory, Deloitte Romania.
This article was first published in Property Forum’s annual listing of "The 50 most influential people in Romania’s real estate market”.
Interest in the sector is accelerating across Europe, and Romania is positioned as one of the most promising emerging markets in the region. Investors are actively searching for alternatives to the saturated Western European hubs, while also looking for locations capable of supporting sustainable expansion, energy efficiency, and growing digital demand. In this context, Romania offers some strategic advantages that could transform the country into a major regional data centre hub.
According to the Deloitte 2026 Real Estate Confidence Survey for Central Europe, conducted in several countries in the region, including Romania, data centres (new entry this year) is perceived as one of the most competitive sectors for 2026 by 13% of participants, on par with industrial and retail assets. The sector ranked among the top priorities for both investors and developers, reflecting the increasing importance of digital infrastructure in the real estate landscape. In five years, data centres are expected to become the second most dynamic sector both in CEE and Romania, after green energy.
The survey also highlights a clear strategic shift among developers. A growing number of companies currently active in industrial, retail, or residential projects intend to redirect their focus toward data centre developments by 2026.
In other words, investors increasingly view the sector as being in an early but highly promising stage of development, with strong potential for long-term expansion driven by cloud computing, artificial intelligence, streaming services, e-commerce, and growing data consumption.
Romania’s key strategic advantages
Romania is particularly well-positioned to benefit from these trends and has the potential to become the second-largest data centre market in CEE after Poland, according to the European Data Centre Association.
Currently, Romania hosts 63 data centres nationwide. Bucharest remains the dominant hub, concentrating almost half of the country’s facilities (27), followed by major regional cities such as Timișoara (10), Cluj-Napoca (8), and Brașov (5) (Data Centres Platform). Other advanced centres with development potential in this field include Craiova, Constanța, Galați, and Ploiești.
Several key factors are fueling investor interest in Romania. One of the most important is the country’s favourable energy mix - more than half of electricity production comes from renewable sources. This is particularly attractive for hyperscalers and international operators seeking reliable access to green energy and lower carbon footprints.
Romania also benefits from a strategic geographical position, acting as a digital bridge between Western Europe and the Black Sea region, based on its strong fibre-optic connectivity. Development costs remain significantly lower than in Western Europe, with estimates indicating that building a data centre in Romania can be at least 25% less expensive, including lower land acquisition costs.
Another important advantage is Romania’s ability to partially address the power constraints affecting traditional FLAP-D markets — Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin — where grid limitations and land shortages increasingly restrict new developments. Combined with access to a highly skilled IT workforce, competitive labour costs, and cybersecurity standards aligned with European regulations, Romania becomes an increasingly attractive destination for international investors.
Environmental conditions also support the sector’s expansion. Romania’s temperate climate allows operators to use natural cooling technologies for longer periods throughout the year, reducing operational costs.
Despite this positive outlook, challenges remain. Grid connection capacity continues to represent one of the main concerns for developers, leading some investors to explore off-grid or renewable-powered solutions.
Overall, the sector still carries a relatively high-risk profile, but one accompanied by the prospect of strong returns and long-term strategic relevance. As digital infrastructure becomes increasingly critical to economic growth, Romania has the opportunity to establish itself as a key regional hub for data centre development.
