New retail projects with a combined leasable area of around 180,000 sqm were completed in Romania during 2024, down by around 15% versus 2023, with retail parks accounting for the biggest share of deliveries, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

DIY retailer Leroy Merlin has leased around 11,000 sqm for a new store that will open in Iași-based Mall Moldova during H1 2025. 

This year marks a crucial stage for the European real estate market, which is undergoing a process of recovery and transformation. Favourable economic factors, such as stabilized inflation, reduced interest rates and increasing real incomes are strengthening this sector as a key pillar of the continental economy, according to a Cushman & Wakefield Echinox analysis. 

Investors view the logistics sector with optimism and, to a lesser extent, retail over the next 12 months, according to a Cushman & Wakefield Echinox study conducted among the most important investors and developers in Romania.

Close to 80% of the office stock is at risk of obsolescence in markets such as Amsterdam, Paris and London, while in CEE-based capital cities this figure stands at an average of 43%, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The demand for logistics and industrial spaces reached 575,000 sqm during the first 9 months of 2024, down 20% compared with the same period of 2023, according to a Cushman & Wakefield Echinox report.

Pharmacy chain operator Dr.Max has leased 11,800 sqm in ELI Park Iași in a bid to accommodate growing operations.

Romania’s total stock of industrial and logistics spaces could reach the 8 million sqm threshold at the end of 2025, if the recent annual development pace of around 500,000 sqm is maintained, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

NewCold, specialized in automated and cold chain international logistics, has entered the Romanian market through a 9-hectare land plot acquisition from WDP in northern Bucharest, for an undisclosed sum. The land is located close to the new A0 ring road of Bucharest.

The volume of office leasing in Bucharest amounted to 168,000 sqm during H1 2024, down 11% compared to the same period of last year, with the average new lease deal at more than 1,100 sqm, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.