Although there has been a slight decline in total office demand, CBRE leased 1 million square meters of office space last year in the CEE region. For Romania’s office market, 2019 was a prolific year, with the modern stock surpassing 3 million sqm and, finally, with a reversal of classes composition: Class A became the preponderance with 53% of the total. As the main market of the country, Bucharest faced a strong demand, approximatively 386,000 sqm being leased in 2019 – an impressive 19% growth compared with 2018

AFI Europe Romania plans to expand the AFI Cotroceni mixed-use project in Bucharest with new retail, office, residential and hotel components. According to Ziarul Financiar estimates, the expansion would see the project’s total value increase from €700 million to €1-1.2 billion.

In 2019, the stock of modern industrial and logistic facilities in Romania reached 4.6 million square meters, up by approximately 10% compared to the previous year. Nearly 9% of the total stock was delivered just in 2019 and the market has potential to almost double to 8 million square meters in the next years, closing the gap between Romania and other CEE markets, according to Colliers International.

Over 250 buildings and real estate projects in Romania have been certified as ‘green buildings’ after one of the international sustainable schemes, BREEAM, LEED, EDGE and WELL, according to data by green building consultant BuildGreen.

Local capital group Lotus Center, the largest owner of shopping centres in Oradea, acquired the multifunctional complex Oradea Plaza from Portico Investments, in a transaction advised by Colliers International.

Israel-based international hotel chain Fattal Holdings has acquired hotels in Budapest and Bucharest, increasing the chain's portfolio to 225 hotels.

CPI Property Group continued to purchase Globalworth shares throughout the week. Following the recently executed transactions and an acquisition announced last week, CPI Property Group now holds 29.4% of the company’s voting rights.  

Atenor announced that the final building permit for the Dacia One project has been obtained. Dacia One is located on the crossing between two of Bucharest most prestigious boulevards, Calea Victoriei and Bulevardul Dacia. The project includes two separate buildings consisting of a historic listed villa (1,500 sqm) formerly occupied by the German Legation and a new state-of-the-art Class A office building (13,500 sqm).

Spanish-based developer, Gran Via Real Estate has invested more than €200 million in Romania in the last 15 years and completed about 1,800 apartments until the end of 2019. The company has specialized in the conversion of former industrial lots into residential projects, communities where thousands of families have started a new life.

Element Industrial has completed the first phase of the Eli Park 1 logistics park in Chitila, northwest of Bucharest. The 20,000 sqm warehouse is leased to appliance producer Arctic, part of Turkish group Arcelik.