CIT Group, a Romanian retailer specialised in IT equipment, has acquired the Nokia building in Timișoara for €6.2 million which marks the company’s entry into the real estate business. The property will be managed by CIT’s Imobiliare division.

About 10 years ago, Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy would mark the peak of the global financial crisis and would be followed by a deep recession in several parts of the world, including Romania. However, Romania has come a long way in the last decade, with the economy seeing some radical transformations, as well as in real estate; the real estate consultancy company Colliers International Romania sees the next 10 years offering an attractive risk/reward profile.

The office stock in the major regional cities of Romania - Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi and Brasov – has doubled over the past five years and will continue to grow at an accelerated pace, being expected to exceed the 1 million sqm threshold in 2019, according to the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox Office Market Regional Cities study.

Oradea Shopping City, the Romanian city’s second largest shopping centre which is currently going through a second bankruptcy, has been purchased by the shareholders of Lotus Center Mall, the city’s largest shopping centre, for €8 million.

2017 was an exceptional year for Romania, but the market looks a bit stagnant right now. Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa FRICS, Partner and Head of the Real Estate Practice Group at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii talked to Property Forum about market dynamics, legal challenges and the impacts of technology.

The Property Management Department of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has expanded its service line by creating the first Training Academy in Romania, called Drawing Business Value Academy, dedicated to tenants in commercial buildings and office buildings occupiers, in partnership with DBV Management & Training, a training and consulting company. The aim of the Academy is to increase the tenants' performance in shopping centres by improving the quality of service and customer relationship and the experience of office buildings occupiers through the development of a community

The number of employees in Class A and B office buildings in Bucharest has reached about 253,000 at the end of the first semester of 2018, a slight increase compared to the end of 2017. In H1 2018, the number of employees working in companies with headquarters in modern office buildings in the capital increased by 3,000, according to estimates of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. Considering the office projects whose delivery is announced for the second half of the year, the number of employees in modern office buildings in Bucharest could rise to 270,000 by the end of 2018.

In line with its development strategy for AccorHotels branded hotels in Eastern Europe, in particular on the very promising Romanian market, Orbis signed 3 new agreements in recent weeks for a total of 370 hotel rooms.

Local real estate developer Global Vision, controlled by Romanian investor Sorin Preda, has started a €200 million industrial development project on a 100 ha land it acquired last year near Constanta’s port.

Telekom Romania announced the sale of two plots of land located in the Floreasca area of Bucharest to One United Properties. The transaction price exceeded €18 million.