Major real estate developers continued to be active in Bucharest throughout 2019, providing the land needed for new projects consisting of over 6,000 apartments and 130,000 square meters of offices. Overall, in 2019, 24 major transactions were made in Bucharest with land intended for the development of residential, office or mixed projects, some of them having the potential to include a hotel component, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The stock of modern offices in the major regional centres of Romania - Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași and Brașov - will reach the threshold of 1 million square meters in 2020, with a delay of almost one year compared to the initial estimates. Despite the fact that 2019 was a record year in terms of deliveries, with a volume of nearly 130,000 square meters, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox's Office Market Regional Cities report.

Romanian bank BCR has completed the sale of the historic Oscar Maugsch Palace, located on Bucharest’s Universitatii Square, to the Luxembourg-based Vivion Investment Fund, controlled by Isaac and Amir Dayan from Israel. The value of the transaction is estimated to be between €30-35 million, according to unofficial sources quoted by Economica.net.

This year has been a good year for the Romanian real estate market. The latest and last report of the year from Colliers International shows that the market has evolved better than expected in many segments.

Speedwell is joining hands with BRD Group Société Générale by signing a financing agreement of €22.5 million for the development of Record Park, the first mixed urban regeneration project in Cluj–Napoca.

CBRE assisted the Hexagon group of companies in selling a portfolio of three office buildings in Cluj-Napoca. By adding this new transaction, the volume of real estate investments reaches almost €200 million in Cluj-Napoca, thus maintaining its attractivity after Bucharest, in terms of real estate investment.

AFI Europe N.V. and NEPI Rockcastle announced the conclusion of the transaction for the acquisition of NEPI Rockcastle’s office portfolio in Romania, with a total GLA of 118,500 square meters. The transaction value is in excess of €300 million.

Mitiska REIM, in association with its Romanian country partner Square 7 Properties, has accelerated its investment in Romania during 2019 and announced the opening of its latest retail park development in the city of Braila in the east of the country.

Real estate developer Mulberry Development, controlled by businessman Ovidiu Șandor, has obtained the building permit for the Radisson Blu hotel in Timișoara. The 160-room hotel will be completed in 2021. The hotel will be operated by the Radisson Hotel Group.

CBRE advised flexible space provider Regus in the opening of its 12th centre at Sun Business Center project, located within Sun Plaza shopping centre. The decision of Regus responds to the demand for flexible spaces from companies in the northern half of the city, in order to provide an alternative for the employees living in the southern area, their share being estimated at 50% of the total staff.