Gijs Klomp, Head of Business Development at WDP Romania, talked to Property Forum about the company's strategic focus on long-term tenant partnerships and built-to-suit developments. He detailed how infrastructure improvements and the defence sector are creating new industrial growth.
This interview was first published in Property Forum’s annual listing of "The 50 most influential people in Romania’s real estate market”.
What are the primary operational objectives for WDP Romania as we move into 2026?
The relationship we built with our tenants throughout the years is very important for us. We aim to have long-term, mutually beneficial collaboration with our clients, to offer them the best services, and to provide the solutions they need to fulfil their targets. Taking all these into account, I think it is clear that our primary objective is to maintain strong relationships with our tenants, to continue to serve our clients to the best of our abilities. Furthermore, being a strong international company, we continue to invest with discipline and to optimise operational costs, so we maintain stability and predictability in today's volatile economic environment.
How do you plan to consolidate your market share against rising competition this year?
Having been present in Romania since 2007 has given us a wealth of experience in servicing clients; we have built a strong client base, gathered experience, and built a reputation. We are well-capitalised, which, in combination with our vast experience, makes us a reliable partner in terms of execution capabilities. Moreover, we have a large land bank, which allows us to lower the execution risk, as well as the execution timeline, and to offer our clients the possibility to build the warehouse they need in the most suitable location for their business.
How is WDP addressing the surge in demand from international retailers looking to establish themselves in Romania?
We are glad to see that Romania is becoming increasingly attractive for international retailers, not just as a market for their products, but also as a regional distribution hub covering wider parts of CEE. This opens up new opportunities for us to enlarge our tenant base, as these operations usually require built-to-suit warehouses, which is our expertise. We have significant experience with international retailers; for example, we have recently started the construction of a distribution centre for Dutch retailer Action in our WDP Park Bucharest - Ștefănești.
Sustainability is a major focus for modern industrial assets. What green energy investments are earmarked for your local portfolio this year?
As WDP implemented its ESG strategy, WDP Romania has also integrated it into its business, and we intend to continue the green energy projects we have in place. We continue installing photovoltaic panels on all those buildings in our portfolio which can accommodate these types of projects. Moreover, we are also aiming to invest in BESS systems, which will allow our clients the benefits of green energy for protracted periods of time. Together with the increasing need to ensure green energy and the electrification of buildings and the transportation sector, this is the next step in our organic growth.
How do you see the demand for specialised food and pharma logistics evolving throughout 2026?
These segments are growing and have special requirements pertaining to warehousing and logistics. There is an extra need for consolidation into larger built-to-suit facilities with strict specifications to serve their needs. We are glad to accommodate these needs, as we have vast experience in built-to-suit warehouses for businesses in this segment. We have several warehouses built-to-suit for food retailers which, besides ambient premises, also include chilled and frozen areas.
Last year we delivered two important warehouses for which temperature-controlled areas were key: in September we completed a built-to-suit warehouse for METRO in WDP Park Bucharest-Ștefănești II. The new Food Service Delivery logistics warehouse serves mostly METRO's HoReCa customers; therefore, it was important to ensure proper storage of food, which means the warehouse has ambient and temperature-controlled areas, including a freezer. Another project was a warehouse we built for Maravet (a Covetrus company) in Cicarlau, close to Baia Mare. The customer is a distribution company for veterinary drugs and pharmaceuticals, as well as pet food, so they requested a warehouse designed for the specific needs of their business. The temperature-controlled warehouse has spaces designed for dangerous goods and fast freezers for the storage of their specific products.
Given the current fiscal and legislative changes in Romania, what is WDP's risk-mitigation strategy for new projects?
Investors have a long-term investment horizon; therefore, they need fiscal and legislative stability and predictability. These aspects were very attractive about Romania, resulting in significant investments and economic development for the country. However, for the time being, these are under pressure; therefore, as a consequence of the aforementioned fiscal and legislative changes, we also reduced the validity periods of our offers.
Beyond traditional retail, which sectors are emerging as new growth engines for industrial demand in 2026?
Within the current global geopolitical and economic context, with ongoing wars and a general atmosphere of uncertainty, we see a growing demand from the defence sector, most probably on the back of investments under the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) program. We have already started seeing investments in infrastructure in recent years in Romania. New infrastructure projects were implemented, and the length of motorways increased significantly, which started to open up new areas of the country in the northeast and east. It is highly likely that after the war in Ukraine ends, these areas with improved infrastructure will be taken into account when companies and governments start to think about Ukraine's reconstruction.
How is the ongoing development of rail and road infrastructure shaping the attractiveness of Romania for new developments?
The recent investments in road infrastructure development will open up parts of Romania that until now were of less interest for companies. With a weak road infrastructure, it is difficult to transport goods; therefore, with the recent improvements, these areas will gain significant traction, especially amongst manufacturing companies. We are a built-to-suit developer, experts in delivering customised solutions for our clients, so generally we follow our clients to areas where they need to be. We work closely with clients from the planning stage, ensuring that buildings are designed to support their logistics flows and long-term efficiency goals.
