Caterata puts Snagov villa project next in line while marketing Odyseea to professional groups

Caterata has also received authorization for a project in Brasov, but it is still considering the right development concept there. On a similar view is its planned development in Piatra Neamt. The company is planning to go on with all projects announced, having re-thought timing for them, but it will not proceed to new acquisitions, as it was initially planning, unless it will find good opportunities, says Solomon. Meanwhile, the company is underway with construction and selling for its Odyseea project in Sisesti area of Bucharest, a project in partnership with developer Profit Building Industries. The first phase, which will deliver 40 apartments in April next year, was 30 percent sold. “We are now targeting groups of professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and made special offers for them. This is the new trend in marketing,” says Osnat Peled, marketing manager with Odyseea Residential. Buyers could be either individuals, or authorised professionals or even SMEs. The firm has set up an inhouse financial team which would act as brokers free of charge, and help clients access financing from one of the 15 banks the developer is partnering. “Unlike in the past, banks are now willing to offer mortgages, now banks are approaching us,” according to Peled. The situation last year in Romania and what Solomon has seen while working in Latvia for a year before coming to Romania were the worst times in real estate in his career. But there could be solutions even for times like this. He gives the example of a system now used in Israel, which consists in several individuals partnering to buy a plot of land and build a residential project, each contributing their own share. They would save on the cost of financing and also the VAT for the land, according to Solomon, while the overall savings would reach around 30 percent as compared to buying an apartment from a developer.
Corina Saceanu