The Office Market in Q1 2023: Bucharest Attracts Three Quarters of the Demand

The largest modern office market was in Bucharest, where companies leased 75% of the total office space traded in the first quarter of the year, according to a study by Fortim Trusted Advisors, a member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance. The rest of the office transactions were registered in Timișoara, Iași, and Cluj Napoca.

In total, in Romania, 75 companies have leased surfaces totaling 42,906 sqm of new spaces, of which 32,116 sqm in Bucharest, in the first quarter of 2023.

The companies chose to open new, modern workplaces only in Bucharest, Timișoara, Iași, and Cluj-Napoca. Against the background of a decreasing volume of new space rentals, the demand in Bucharest suffered a larger correction than in the other university cities.

As a trend, there is a decrease in the share of the Capital in the total market, from 84% in Q1 2022 to 75% in Q1 2023.

“In the course of this year, the process of carrying out transactions on the office real estate market in Bucharest started at a more moderate pace; however, it later experienced a significant recovery and acquired an upward momentum. The drop in new building deliveries delayed some leasing decisions, and the high number of renegotiations also delayed the signing of some contracts. In the coming quarters, the volume of office space rentals will increase in Bucharest. More and more furnished office spaces are appearing, where little intervention is needed and where you can move immediately, as a result of relocations or downsizing of some companies. A piece of advice for potential tenants: these spaces are the fastest solutions, and the owners have even greater flexibility in establishing the duration of the contracts“, declares Nicolae Ciobanu, Managing Partner– Head of Advisory at Fortim Trusted Advisors, member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance.

Who rents outside the Capital and what kind of office spaces?

The Access Group company rented the largest office area outside the capital, namely 4,500 sqm, in the UBC 0 project, in Timișoara. This office building was delivered last year and has attracted a large part of the local office demand from 2022 and further from 2023. The UBC office tower has 17 floors, a total floor area of 32,000 sqm and numerous amenities: food court area and shopping within the complex, the largest fitness center in the city, medical services and a park laid out on an area of 5 hectares.

In Cluj-Napoca, the Maestro Business Center office building attracted a tenant from the IT&C field, assisted by Fortim Trusted Advisors member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance. Also, in Cluj-Napoca, two other tenants, from the fields of IT&C and professional services, have chosen The Office and Tetarom projects.

In Iași, most tenants opted for Palas Campus, an office building inaugurated this year and UBC 3. Among the companies that chose Iași are Safeguard Global, Infineon, RINF, and Arriver System Software, all in the field IT&C.

In total, in Timișoara, Iași and Cluj-Napoca, IT&C tenants accumulated an 82% share of the total market. The IT&C field had a much smaller share in Bucharest, compared to cities in the rest of the country. In Bucharest, the share of IT&C tenants was only 34% in the first quarter of 2023. In the second quarter, however, there are assumptions that this share will increase again, due to the large number of negotiations in the market.