Industrial developments follow general market downward trend, Colliers study finds

The study also points out that banks have tightened financing conditions and started asking for very high pre-rental rates for spaces, which are hard to secure given that tenants want to move into completed spaces.
In the first five months of 2009, 40,000 sqm of industrial space was delivered in Bucharest, almost ten times less than in the same period of 2008, when 350,000 sqm came on the market. According to Colliers, the overall industrial stock has reached 920,000 sqm and the second half of 2009 is expected to bring no significant change.
The study found that the vacancy rate for industrial space in Bucharest reached 4 percent in December 2008 and had grown to 10 percent by the end of June 2009.
“After several months when the crisis was felt, the first signs of interest in renting have begun to appear and we hope to see transactions in the second half of this year,” said Marius Stefanescu, senior broker with the industrial department of Colliers International. “On the short term, those who need low-priced sites will find solutions in existing rentable spaces, while the big players will look for spaces to be delivered. Currently, vacant industrial sites consist of small, dispersed spaces,” he went on.
The figures will shortly lead to excessive demand for the existing industrial spaces, according to the Colliers representative.
Magda Purice