M Core Group has purchased seven strip malls in Romania from property investor MAS for an undisclosed sum. The projects with a combined leasable area of around 32,000 sqm have a full occupancy rate. The strip malls are based in Slobozia, Focșani, Râmnicu Sărat, Târgu Secuiesc, Sebeș, Făgăraș and Gheorgheni.

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.