Mihaela-Cora Cristescu, CEO of Atalian Romania spoke to Property Forum about the growth of the local facility management market and about investments in new technologies, including robots, which are expected by companies in the commercial real estate sector.

Real estate investments amounting to around €1.2 billion are currently in various stages of negotiation, while over €600 million in investment volumes were completed in the first eight months of this year, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Romanian developer One United Properties has recorded a consolidated turnover of €136.7 million in the first half of 2022, a 54% increase compared to the first half of 2021. The gross profit increased more than double year-on-year, reaching €78.8 million, while the cash position amounted to €102.7 million. 

Lavinia Ioniță Rasmussen, Partner at Romanian law firm NNDKP, spoke to Property Forum about the real estate segments that are driving the real estate investment market in 2022 and the progress in harmonising national legislation with effects on the real estate industry, especially in the area of building permits. The firm has a diversified portfolio of property clients and expects a continuation of this trend this year.

Aurelia Luca, Executive Vice President Operations Hungary and Romania at Skanska spoke to Property Forum about the flexibility of office space amid the popularity of hybrid working and the ESG criteria that will dominate office leasing and investment activity in the coming years.

The total office stock in Bucharest reached 3.3 million sqm at the end of the first semester of 2022, with just one new building (AFI Tech Park – phase 2) spanning 25,000 sqm being completed in the second quarter of this year. 

Around 500,000 sqm of logistics spaces have been leased in Romania in the first semester of the year, up 38% compared to the same period of last year, with the largest pre-leased surface of almost 88,000 sqm secured in Prahova County, according to property consultancy CBRE Romania. 

Industrial developer WDP has purchased Arad Business Park, with a leasable area of around 42,000 sqm, for an undisclosed sum in a transaction brokered by real estate consultancy Colliers. 

Investment transactions worth €336 million were concluded on Romania’s property market in the first semester of 2022, up 13% year-on-year, while for the whole year the sector could generate deals closer to or even higher than €1 billion, according to a report by real estate consultancy Colliers. 

Daniela Lazea, Partner and Co-Head of Real Estate at Romanian law firm Biriș Goran, spoke to Property Forum about Romania’s potential to become a relocation base for companies in the region and the real estate market’s ability to surpass €1 billion transactions in 2022.