Major real estate developers continued to be active in Bucharest throughout 2019, providing the land needed for new projects consisting of over 6,000 apartments and 130,000 square meters of offices. Overall, in 2019, 24 major transactions were made in Bucharest with land intended for the development of residential, office or mixed projects, some of them having the potential to include a hotel component, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Romanian bank BCR has completed the sale of the historic Oscar Maugsch Palace, located on Bucharest’s Universitatii Square, to the Luxembourg-based Vivion Investment Fund, controlled by Isaac and Amir Dayan from Israel. The value of the transaction is estimated to be between €30-35 million, according to unofficial sources quoted by Economica.net.

CBRE advised flexible space provider Regus in the opening of its 12th centre at Sun Business Center project, located within Sun Plaza shopping centre. The decision of Regus responds to the demand for flexible spaces from companies in the northern half of the city, in order to provide an alternative for the employees living in the southern area, their share being estimated at 50% of the total staff.

Libra Internet Bank and developer Niro Group have signed a financing agreement worth €24 million for the development of a Swissôtel hotel on Expozitiei Boulevard in northern Bucharest.

Skanska has acquired about 26,200 square meters of land in Bucharest, Romania, from Intero Property Development Estates SRL. The total investment amounts to €24 million.

Real estate developer Hagag Development Europe continues its investments in Bucharest by adding a new office property to its local portfolio: Tudor Arghezi 21. The transaction value exceeds €9 million. 

CBRE was assigned to provide property management services for the projects developed by the company One United Properties in the north of Bucharest, namely the office building One Tower and the residential complex One Mircea Eliade, which comprise a total area of 24,000 square meters offices and 247 high-end apartments. The portfolio managed by CBRE now exceeds 800,000 square meters.

Globalworth has inaugurated the most advanced lobby in the region, with a number of innovations and technological premieres that include the world's largest kinetic floor in an office building, the longest screen wall in CEE, the largest natural green wall in an office building SEE, a space to relax with heated marble steps, Schindler projectors and Pepper, Globalworth's first robot employee. According to the developer, the Globalworth Tower building, which welcomes some 30,000 visitors daily, has become a benchmark for office space innovation and sustainability.

Dunwell Industrial Brokerage has assisted MLP Group in opening a new, 2,500 sqm location in Bucharest for one of the largest banana importers and distributors in Europe, Citronex.

In the past five years, Colliers International has performed valuation for a total of over 500,000 commercial and residential properties worth €40 billion in Romania. The most complex and comprehensive appraising process in Colliers International’s portfolio was for BCR Palace on University Square in Bucharest.