NEPI Rockcastle has officially opened its €136 million Promenada Craiova shopping centre in central southern Romania.
The retail scheme is the largest retail development by size and investment value opening in Central and Eastern Europe in 2023, according to CBRE.
The project has a leasable area of around 80,000 sqm, larger than originally planned due to strong retailer demand for space exceeding the initial projected supply. The scheme comprises a 53,300 sqm shopping centre and a 10,400 sqm retail park. In addition, the retail scheme incorporates a 16,000 sqm DIY store, owned by Dedeman. The shopping centre is 99.9% let, while the retail park has a lease rate of 85%.
Furthermore, the development’s photovoltaic plant design capacity is about 6 MWp of energy, installed mainly over the parking area, generating around 70% of the shopping centre and its tenants’ requirements.
"Promenada Craiova demonstrates one of the fundamentals of the CEE retail markets, where ultra-modern and attractive shopping centres play a central role in local economies and communities, mainly because shopping high streets didn’t develop in the post-war socialist era in these countries as they did in the West,” said NEPI Rockcastle's Group Asset Director, Marius Barbu.
Romania is the second largest EU country in CEE by population after Poland. Economic growth and stability helped drive a year-on-year rise in consumer spending of 21% in 2022, according to a CBRE Romania report.
