The COVID-19 pandemic has to put a halt to years of uninterrupted growth on the Romanian property investment market. Andrei Vacaru, Head of Capital Markets at JLL Romania shared his market outlook with Property Forum.

Romanian real estate developer One United Properties has sold 30% of its One Floreasca Tower office building, currently under construction in Bucharest, with the aim of raising the capital necessary to complete the works, zf.ro reports.

COVID-19’s direct impact on ongoing construction activity in Romania has been minimal since no restrictions were in place specifically targeting construction works. Several indirect factors, however, are expected to limit the amount of construction activity. The Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association has published a COVID-19 update on the construction sector of Romania.

Starting this month, Banca Comercială Română (BCR) has relocated its headquarters to the Business Garden Bucharest office building, developed by Vastint, the real estate division of Ikea.

Fab Lab Iași has started setting-up its second co-working location in Iași, in partnership with BCR and Modex. Located on the 7th floor of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) building, in the Podu Roș area, this new space covers 250 square meters.

Spanish developer Gran Via Real Estate announced that starting 18 May, it will reopen the sales offices for its ongoing four residential projects: Timișoara 58, Gran Via Park, and Aviației Apartments in Bucharest, as well as Gran Via Marina in Constanța.

Romanian real estate developer Nordis Group is planning a mixed-use project in the northern area of Mamaia, Romania’s most popular seaside resort. The developer will allow people to invest in hotel rooms that they can use for one week each year. The developer promises an annual yield of 7% of the invested sum, paid in 12 monthly instalments.

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak seems to be having a severely negative impact on market sentiment across the CEE region, according to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Q1 2020 figures show that both rental and capital value expectations have been downgraded across the region with retail expected to see the sharpest decline and industrial proving to be the most resilient asset class.

Dunwell brokered a transaction for TeraPlast for 5,000 sqm (1,500 sqm of warehouse space and 3,500 sqm of outer platform) in Mega Distribution Center’s park in Chiajna. The relocation from the northern area into this new space aims at increasing the efficiency of the company’s distribution activities.

The immediate impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the real estate market will be felt during the second quarter of the year while on the medium and long term the focus will be on health and safety measures as well as on technology, these are the main takeaways from the Romania Call Flash, organized by CBRE Romania.