OFFICE BUILDING GROUND FLOORS – A GENUINE MAGNET FOR RETAIL ENTREPRENEURS

Newsroom 20/09/2018 | 09:00

The new office buildings completed in Timişoara over the last two years generate benefits not only for the developers and companies on the lookout for high quality premises, but also for the players on related markets, such as services and public food services. Polyclinics, banks, beauty salons, cafés and restaurants with bold interior designs choose to set up shop in the new ground zero – that is the ground floors of office buildings, which ensure a daily footfall adding up to hundreds – if not thousands – of people.

The harmonious mix of office and retail spaces is particularly evident in the Openville mixed-use project. The IULIUS Company chose to replicate near Iulius Mall Timişoara the project model combining complementary mall and office uses patented in Iaşi, and the recipe works to everyone’s benefit. The people working in the two office buildings that were completed have access to a broad variety of useful everyday services, while the retailers’ traffic and sales are ensured not only by the regular clients of Iulius Mall. This would explain why spaces that were not particularly conventional up until recently are now in high demand and office buildings have large retail premises reserved at their ground floors.

What type of businesses set up shop in office buildings? First of all there are the service providers, where employees can quickly run everyday errands or pay bills. This is in reference to medical polyclinics, banks or telecom operators, as well as stores. This is also applicable to the first office building opened in the Openville project, UBC 2, which accommodates tenants such as Regina Maria Polyclinic, CEC Bank, ProCredit Bank and the dm drogerie markt brand.

Beauty salons also took an interest in these venues, where the intense daily footfall ensures a loyal client base. For instance, at the beginning of July a barber shop opened in the UBC 1 building in Openville. “We chose the Openville project for opening this new concept mainly owing to the high footfall. Given our salon of almost 13 years opened in Iulius Mall Timișoara, we consider that we have acquired a broad experience in the field, and we also believe that Openville was the natural step forward in developing our business.”, said Alina Mihalache, owner of the Breathless Gentleman’s Room.

Novel café and restaurant concepts

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Food & beverage entrepreneurs, however, are by far the ones that best sensed the enormous potential of opening a café or restaurant in a mixed-use project – and particularly to do so in the vicinity of office buildings that accommodate hundreds of employees. Operators are very responsive to their consumption preferences; therefore, the proposed concepts are uniquely novel in terms of interior fit-out, menus and promotional offers. This is what spurred the emergence of themed restaurants such as at Fabrika, the small “factory” near UBC 2 office building, which is popular not only for its dishes, but also for its “business lunch”-type menu drawing in office workers during luck breaks. The restaurants based in Iulius Mall Timişoara followed suit and adapted their product offer with special menus and promotional offers for this category of customers.

Such locations will continue to open, at least in the Openville project, where all the office buildings are designed to include retail spaces. The Manufaktura chain will open an interesting coffee shop, bistro and restaurant combination in UBC 1, while the ground floor of UBC 3, which is currently under construction, already has premises leased by companies such as the national network Ted’s Coffee and a food operator that will open the largest Lebanese restaurant in the area, spanning on 1,400 sqm.

Corporate event halls and English-language kindergarten

Although only in its foundation works phase, UBC 0, the upcoming tallest office building in Romania, also drew in retail tenants: jewelry stores, service operators and cafés. Moreover, the developers of Openville Timişoara will use the first floor to offer a new service for clients in the corporate area: seven halls designed for organizing business events, trainings and conferences.

The office-retail mix also generates positive results for the retailers based in Iulius Mall Timişoara, as over the last year and a half the shopping center has been gradually winning over a new segment: the employees in the two UBC buildings. This provides a large public with a solid financial potential, which motivated the retailers to build their loyalty via the special Partner Card program, which entitles them to permanent discounts when they do their shopping or have lunch.

Another benefit for the people working in the office building is Wendy School, a private teaching institution; next spring, Openville will welcome the opening of the first English-language kindergarten in Timişoara, where children will be taught in accordance with a British curriculum.

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