Retail space deliveries will accelerate towards 200,000 square meters in 2018, as new projects and extensions are scheduled in ten medium-size towns and cities across Romania, but no significant delivery is scheduled in capital Bucharest this year, according to reports released by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
In 2017, nearly 70,000 sqm of new retail space was delivered countrywide, while in Bucharest the extension of the AFI Palace Cotroceni project added 8,000 sqm to the retail stock.
Modern retail stock outside the capital totals 2.42 million sqm, while the surface area of shopping malls, retail parks and retail galleries in Bucharest cover 1.2 million sqm.
In Bucharest, the highest density of retail spaces is in the first district, with a level of nearly 967 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants. The sixth and third districts come next with 842 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants and 704 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants, respectively.
In Romania, the cities with the highest density of retail spaces remain Suceava (1,167 sqm/1,000 inhabitants) and Oradea (926 sqm/1,000 inhabitants), while in primary cities, with a population of over 250,000 inhabitants, this indicator ranged between 380 sqm/1,000 inhabitants in Craiova and 694 sqm/1,000 inhabitants in Timisoara.
New retail projects are due to be delivered this year in Timisoara, Craiova, Bistrita, Sibiu, Buzau, Satu Mare, Baia Mare, Slobozia, Roman and Focsani. The completion of some of these projects depends on obtaining building permits in due time.
In terms of deliveries planned for 2018, the most active developers are Prime Kapital, NEPI Rockcastle and Iulius Group. Thus, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox signed a strategic partnership with Prime Kapital in view of leasing the retail projects the group will be developing in Romania.
In Bucharest, the lack of new development further decreased the average vacancy rate of shopping centres and put pressure on rents in the most popular locations.
