After building a new terrace at Timpuri Noi Square and planning the project’s Phase 2, which will be focused on the retail component, Vastint Romania has high expectations of 2022. BR sat down with the company’s Managing Director, Antoniu Panait, to talk about plans and objectives for this year.

By Anda Sebesi

Although slightly uncertain, 2021 turned out to be suitable for business decisions. As a real estate company, Vastint Romania constantly analyses the needs of the market, its potential, whether clients’ requests match its own standards, and so on. “Having the ability to reflect upon all these details has proven very useful, allowing us to be more confident that the projects we embark on are the most suitable for the Romanian market,” Panait says.

The pandemic has not only disrupted people’s daily routines and interactions over the past two years, but it has also wreaked havoc on their mental health. “The constant changes that companies have had to deal with have represented major business challenges, and they’ve resulted in significant fluctuations both in tenant presence in offices as well as in the general demand for office space,” Panait explains. However, he adds that thanks to its high technical standards, Vastint Romania could provide the best possible working conditions to its tenants. “Our main focus has definitely been to ensure excellent conditions for everyone who entered our buildings.”

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Asked about Vastint Romania’s achievements of last year, Panait says that the biggest one was that the company managed to keep all its employees safe and healthy while at the office, as a result of the company’s high quality projects and the safety measures it implemented during this period. “Secondly, business wise, we managed to add a new terrace at Timpuri Noi Square and we are planning Phase 2 of this project which will be focused on the retail area.”

As for the company’s plans for this year, Panait says that work on Phase 2 of Timpuri Noi Square will begin as soon as the market will allow it. “2022 started on a positive note, as we’ve been seeing an increase in office space lease requests.” He adds: “As humans are social beings, it’s clear that two years have been more than enough to understand that working from home doesn’t work for everybody, and therefore we are expecting the number of employees who return to the office to continue growing. 2021 had a slightly higher rate of predictability than 2020, and we’re preparing for an even more business-friendly 2022.”

Panait says that it is still too early to predict how 2022 will end, but that this doesn’t stop Vastint Romania from being positive and confident that the real estate industry will move forward at full speed in the coming period. “The market has been learning and adapting in the last two years, and we will definitely see more deals being closed in 2022. And hopefully, the global situation will be safe enough to allow us to carry on with our plans.”

Antoniu Panait’s 3 business lessons of 2021

• Keep your standards high, both in business and in your personal life.
• It is important to believe in your business and surround yourself with likeminded people.
• Sometimes it’s ok to pause, analyse your business, and decide your next moves by looking at recent market changes and finding ways to turn them into wins.