First Property Group has agreed to sell one of its three directly held properties in Romania, a logistics warehouse in Ploiesti, for €3.2 million.  The purchaser, Aquila Part Prod SRL is also the current occupier of the property. 

Paris claimed top spot in Colliers International’s Hotel Investment Attractiveness Index, an analysis of the investment climate of 20 European cities, despite predictions that investors and tourists would lose faith in the city due to political uncertainty and the perceived threat following various national security breaches. Prague was ranked in 10th place in the index, boosted by the low level of development costs and high number of tourist arrivals.

SEE Property Forum 2017, a real estate conference co-organised by Property Forum and RICS, has been held for the third time in Bucharest. 50 speakers and more than 200 visitors came together in the capital to analyse the potential of the Romanian real estate market from a global perspective.

The mindset of end-users is quickly changing in the world of real estate and developers looking to stay in the race need to keep up with current trends. This trivial statement is especially true in the case of a dynamically growing market such as Romania, which has gone through significant changes in recent years. Sorin Visoianu, Country Manager of Operations at Immofinanz told us what he thinks is driving the Romanian commerical property market.

The EBRD is joining forces with Mid Europa Partners to strengthen Romanian supermarket and convenience chain Profi Rom Food S.R.L. by providing a €25 million equity investment. Profi operates around 523 stores in more than 272 localities throughout Romania. The EBRD’s financing will support a further expansion of the network, particularly into the country’s smaller towns.

2016 was a strong year for the Romanian commercial property market with a continued boom in the office segment and growing investment volumes. Ilinca Paun, Managing Partner at Colliers International talked us about current trends and expectations for the future.

Owner Strabag has put the five-star JW Marriott Hotel on the market, zf.ro reports. The potential sale is reported to have attracted interest from various foreign and local investors, including the Paval brothers, the owners of DIY retailer Dedeman. The value of the 402-room hotel is estimated to be around €100 million.

Optim Project Management was assigned as General Designer for a new mixed commercia  (retail & offices) development in Timișoara. Optim PM will also provide project management services for this new project.

According to Christie & Co's recent hotel market snapshot, Bucharest is an emerging market for hotel investments. While the city's hotel market may yet to fully recover from the financial crisis, it has made tremendous progress in recent years, reporting upward trends in key performance indicators and growing investor interest.

Immofinanz rented approx. 80,000 sqm of office space in Bucharest during the abbreviated 2016 financial year. That represents more than 40% of the total standing office portfolio in Romania. These transactions are expected to increase the occupancy rate in the office sector in Romania from roughly 88% to more than 94%. New rentals and expansions accounted for roughly 47,000 sqm or 60% of the rented space, while the remainder represents contract extensions.