New shopping centers of 90,000 sqm on Romanian market in the second half of the year

Deliveries of new retail spaces will return to a positive trend in the second half of 2018 when at least 90,000 sqm will be delivered in four cities, while no opening is scheduled in Bucharest, according to the H1 Retail MarketBeat, made by the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultant.

In the first semester of 2018 were delivered 14,000 sqm to Bistrita Retail Park and Focasani Value Center, projects developed by Element Development and Prime Capital respectively.

It should also be mentioned that the total inventory of commercial space has registered a net decrease by closing the Carrefour hypermarket and the commercial gallery within the Vitantis Shopping Center, at the beginning of this year, the total area of ​​the project, where the shops Praktiker, Diego and Casa Rusu are still active, being 36,000 square meters.

Thus, the stock of modern commercial spaces outside Bucharest has reached 2.43 million sqm, while the surface of retail malls, retail parks and commercial galleries in Bucharest is 1.19 million square meters. The density of commercial spaces at national level reached 184 sqm/1,000 inhabitants, while in Bucharest it reached 651 sqm/1,000 inhabitants, 3.5 times higher than the national average.

The new retail projects

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New commercial premises will be delivered by NEPI Rockcastle and Prime Kapital developers in Satu Mare, Baia Mare, Roman and Slobozia, tertiary cities with uncovered demand for modern retail space. At the same time, NEPI Rockcastle intends to complete the 10,000 sqm expansion of the Shopping City Sibiu project by the end of the year.

As regards Bucharest, the most notable event in the retail area in the second half of the year is the opening of the second IKEA store in Romania and the largest in South East Europe with a total area of ​​37,000 sqm, on Theodor Pallady Boulevard.

Next year, the commercial area of ​​Bucharest will expand northwards to Baloteşti, where the DN 1 Value Center project is expected, while the Colosseum Retail Park, Promenada Mall and AFI Palace Cotroceni projects will be in the process of expansion.

”Romania has become a stable market in recent years, which brings major gains for most retail players. We can now say that we have a market that has reached a first degree of maturity and predictability and, to the extent that the economic context remains positive, we expect a further demand for new retail space, both in the main markets , as well as in the secondary or tertiary ones. We believe that headline rentals in commercial centers will rise in the near future due to low vacancy rates, revenue increases reported by key tenants of these centers, and a small stock of new retail space. In addition, we are constantly inflating new retailers entering the market in Romania, which will not only increase the demand for commercial space in the dominant and consecrated projects, ” Bogdan Marcu, partner, Retail Agency states.

Thus, the headline rent of a 100 sqm space located in a dominant commercial center in Bucharest reaches the level of EUR 70-80/sqm/month, while in similar projects in cities such as Timisoara, Iasi or Cluj these spaces reach values of EUR 35-40/sqm/month, a level of EUR 18-23/sqm/month being reached for the same type of spaces in tertiary cities.

The retail department of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox leased 2017 spaces with a cumulated surface of over 20,000 square meters in retail projects in Bucharest and the country.