Oana Diaconescu, IULIUS: We have a pipeline of investment projects of over €1.3 billion

At re:Focus on Retail, Couriers and Logistics 2024 conference, Oana Diaconescu, Head of Leasing at IULIUS, pointed out that mixed-use projects are the main projects that will be developed in the future, with the possibility to give back to cities large unused spaces or industrial platforms that are not working or have no place in the inner city.

”We have an operational portfolio of five shopping centers of which two are mixed-use. In fact, we are the first to inaugurate the concept of mix-used development through Palas in Iasi. We currently have two other large projects in development. We have continued to work in two directions, one is the consolidation of the strategies already started in previous years, the consolidation of the operational network, and the other is the continuation of investments both in terms of attracting new brands in business and retail, as well as moving forward on the new projects I mentioned,” said Oana Diaconescu.

”Last year we had 70 million visitors network-wide, which is similar to 2019, the benchmark year in the market. We also had a 10% increase in turnover, a significant advance considering last year’s difficult market and the fact that we have quite mature projects in the market. In terms of tenants, we also managed to integrate a flagship store in Palas Iasi. Last year is a year with significant results, good results at national level.

The current year is shaping up with broadly the same challenges as last year, maybe some additional ones. I refer to the staffing crisis, the crisis of price increases in building materials, the geopolitical context. We, at group level, do not look at the situation with concern, we have been through this before and we have come through it well. But it will be a new year in which everyone will have to pay attention to risk management, to portfolio management, in order to increase the value of their portfolio.

Iulius currently has investments of more than €1.3 billion on its agenda. I would like to talk about two important projects. The one in Cluj, where we are in the final phase of authorizing the mixed-use project and which we want to launch and with which we want to break some records. What is important to know there is that we have set out to give back to the city an industrial platform, an area that was completely unusable until now. It is a 14 hectare area that belonged to Carbochim. It was important for Iulius not to interrupt the activity of this factory, and last year we completed the relocation and modernization of the factory, with an investment of €5 million. It was only after the relocation was completed that we gave way to the project, where we will have several anchors, not only retail and entertainment, but also cultural anchors, a local creative hub and a performance hall. We want to go beyond common retail standards, Cluj is a space where there is still room to host shows. On the retail side there will be very large spaces with big brands.

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Also, at the end of last year we announced the partnership with Oil Terminal in Constanta; there we want to give back to the community an inactive site. An investment of more than €800 million, where there will be retail and recreational spaces, cultural spaces and a botanical garden. Now we are moving towards the greening of the area, which is very important for the inhabitants and for the future,” concluded Oana Diaconescu.