Property Forum’s series of virtual events, organised in partnership with the RICS, continues with online panel discussions focused on the leasing issues that arise during the COVID-19 lockdown. This week's last event, focused on the Romanian property market, will bring together landlords, tenants, legal advisors and other industry experts to shed light on the issues currently on the mind of market participants and to help provide an overview of the potential immediate and long-term implications of the coronavirus crisis. Our diverse group of panellists will answer all the burning questions that may arise in this unprecedented situation.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a green financing package of approximately €205 million to Warehouses De Pauw NV (WDP), a Belgian real-estate investment trust, to support the construction of around 1 million sqm of resource-efficient semi-industrial and logistics properties across Romania. The green financing fits within a larger €750 million financing programme and includes green financing from third-party investors mobilized by IFC under its Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program and from international commercial banks.  

Urbano Parks, a development company created by entrepreneurs Mircea Ilea, Alexandru Serban and Daniel Paraschiv in Cluj-Napoca, said over 95% of construction works on the first phase of Urbano Cluj Vest logistics park have been completed. The first tenants could move in next month.

Almost 70% of landlords and tenants in the office market believe that the COVID-19 epidemics will continue to affect their business throughout this whole year, with first signs of recovery being expected to start with 2021, according to a study conducted by Colliers International among 60 landlords and more than 100 tenants.

Appetite for the acquisition of office buildings and industrial parks, less rented offices and shopping centres with postponed openings, this is how this quarter could be described regarding the real estate market in Romania, according to the quarterly report of CBRE.

The first three months of the year were closed with promising figures on the Romanian property market. CBRE published its Q1 2020 overview of the main commercial real estate sectors.

Investors still show interest for real estate acquisitions Romania, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by Colliers International among more than 60 real estate companies.

The state of emergency imposed by the current pandemic has led to the almost total vacancy of office spaces, within the context of many of the employees working from home. The landlords want to lower service charge levels for this period and continue to provide the necessary services to maintain the buildings in optimal conditions, according to a report by CBRE Romania.

Saving money and time spent in traffic are the main advantages of working from home, while the main disadvantages are the lack of direct socialization with colleagues and the difficulty in separating professional from personal time, according to a survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Everyday personal and professional life have both been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in a radical and unexpected way, and the general opinion is that its influence and effects will have repercussions on how people live and work, even after the medical situation will be stabilized. Cushman & Wakefield Echinox and Dentons are launching a debate over 10 issues that will impact the entire office sector in Romania, covering over 350 modern buildings with a total surface of more than 4 million square meters and approximately 400,000 employees working in some of the largest companies, emblematic for the national economy.