Romania’s retail sector will see new deliveries of projects covering around 121,000 sqm, of which 62% are small structure, mainly retail parks, according to a report by real estate consultancy Colliers.
The report points out that retail parks have more space and can accommodate stricter social distancing policy on the back of the health crisis restrictions.
“International stakeholders continue to target attainments of retail properties. Also, opportunistic investors with smaller portfolios may see this as a time to expand, with developments to be made on newly available regional cities areas they may have not considered opening previously and where the demand for retail parks is very attractive,” says Simina Niculiță, Partner & Head of Retail Agency at Colliers.
“Interested buyers are seeking out-of-town retail parks, as it assumes customers will still want to shop at open-air locations that are reachable by car even after pandemic lockdown measures are eased,” she added.
Two large-scale retail projects were delivered this year in Bucharest – outlet centre Fashion House Pallady and the second phase of Colosseum Mall, which has a shopping gallery covering 54,500 sqm. Meanwhile, Prime Kapital opened Sepsi Value Center, with a leasable area of 16,400 sqm, in Sfântu Gheorghe.
Colliers analysts further showed that vacancy rates across all location types increased in the first half of 2021, with non-dominant shopping centres seeing the most significant increase of around 5-7%, due to high exposure to fashion retail and casual dining. Renegotiations of rents will remain a hot topic this year, as some tenants are still struggling to recover financially from the lockdowns imposed last year in the country.
