The Aurel Vlaicu metro area remains the most effervescent in real estate

The area adjoining the Aurel Vlaicu metro station, at the junction of Barbu Vacarescu, Pipera Road and Calea Floreasca, continues to be the most effervescent real estate area in Romania, having transformed at high pace over the last 10 years into the new business district of Bucharest, its office stock being almost fully occupied (vacancy rate <2 percent).

The latest report released by Activ Property Services shows that 5 new buildings are currently under construction in the area, including 3 offices, the future 4-star Courtyard by Marriott hotel of 259 rooms and Aviatiei Towers with 235 apartments (1st phase of 134 units) .

During the last 10 years, the area has transformed a nearly 1 km long frontage into a business district, with office buildings and Promenada Mall, including the two highest buildings in Romania, Sky Tower (36 floors) and Globalworth Tower (26 floors).

The existing office stock exceeds 370,000 sqm of GLA, and it is the second largest office concentration in Bucharest. Over 95 percent of the area was delivered over the last 10 years, the area’s redevelopment starting in 2009-2010 and accelerating during 2013-2016, with a record of over 120,000 sqm of GLA office completions in 2016.

The office stock will continue to grow and has the potential to outpace half a million sqm in the next 3 years. Three new buildings are under construction with delivery in 2019 (Equilibrium 1, Oregon Park – building 3, Zone 313), totalling 51,500 sqm, while other 4 totalling 85,000 sqm are announced until the end of 2021.

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Source: Activ Property Services

In addition, the Promenada Mall shopping centre is planned to be extended by 62,000 sq m GLA of retail and office space, to become the second largest shopping destination in northern Bucharest. The project is estimated for delivery in 2021.

“Companies have shown a strong demand to relocate and expand in the area, sustaining the developers’ pipeline activity. Take-up activity exceeded 50,000 sqm per year during the last 5 years, with records of 95,000 sqm in 2014 and over 58,000 sqm last year,” says Andrei Birsan, head of Office Department at Activ Property Services.

The area concentrates the headquarters of major companies such as Oracle, Raiffeisen Bank, Vodafone, Orange, Carrefour, PwC, Huawei and Kellogg, attracting over 40,000 employees daily.

The occupancy rate exceeds 98 percent, with most of the buildings being fully let.

Except the announced projects, the area includes additional sites with potential for real estate redevelopment, in excess of 6.5 hectares.

Developers have shown a new tendency during the last two years to start major residential projects in the vicinity of the area, such as Cloud 9 (820 apartments) and Vibe Pompeiu (500 apartments).