The relocation not only accommodates DOUGLAS’ expanded team but also complies with its sustainability principles as the company aims to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2025 compared to the baseline financial year 2018/2019.

"Our people are the pillar of our success, and we highly value our unique DOUGLAS culture," explains Lavinia Ivas, CEO DOUGLAS Romania. "For our new home, we have specifically instructed CBRE to deliver a location where we can continue to grow and thrive as a team. We believe that Oregon Park is a project that truly respects our values and principles, with sustainability at the forefront."

Oregon Park, currently one of the largest and most sustainable office projects in Romania, held by the Lion's Head investment fund, achieved at the end of 2023 the Well Health & Safety certification, a standard offered by The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) that recognizes compliance with a set of quality standards to ensure a working environment with a beneficial impact on the health and well-being of employees.

"In the same way, DOUGLAS makes their customers' lives more beautiful, we're honored to be the ones who get to make their everyday office experience as lovely as it can get. Oregon Park has a smart, efficient mix of services and technologies tailored to the needs of those who work in our buildings, and we work daily to create and maintain a strong community by facilitating business and networking opportunities in our multi-purpose, sustainable spaces," says Alina Necula, Country Manager Romania Lion's Head.

Lion's Head Investments, formed through a partnership between South Africa's oldest life insurance company - Old Mutual, and Bulgaria's leading commercial and residential real estate investment group - AG Capital, has secured 100% occupancy of the complex. With a leasable area of roughly 70,000 square meters in one of Bucharest's main office hubs, the Barbu Vacarescu area, Oregon Park comprises three premium Class A office buildings, each with 6 floors, plus 3,000 square meters of retail space and 12,000 square meters of landscaped green areas. The Lion's Head-owned development has made a genuine commitment to sustainability through the use of Zero Carbon technologies, energy-efficient building systems, and recyclable materials.

"The office market will still remain subject to the impact of sustainability, in accordance with our recent research reports. Property owners and investors continue to pursue environmental certifications for their office, and the very clear specifications that DOUGLAS Romania has expressed throughout this project and that we have been able to find in the Lion's Head project demonstrate this united approach of owners, investors, developers and occupiers to transform office spaces into sustainable and well-being-generating areas for those who access them." added Ana Vicoveanu, A&T Office Advisor at CBRE România

Identifying the most suitable project for DOUGLAS Romania's new workspaces that would meet very clear sustainability criteria was supported by CBRE Romania throughout the real estate process, with the solution chosen at the end of the analysis adding even more value in terms of sustainability.

By co-managing a surrender process and a relocation one, the agency was able to deliver the opportunity of a space where the refurbishment and partitioning effort is minimal, with the existing condition providing approximately three quarters of the retailer's requirements, thus avoiding additional costs but also avoiding environmental impact by refraining from waste and reusing a range of materials. This is a trend for companies to shift towards new, fitted-out premises, where a significant saving in CAPEX investment is achieved, which is reduced significantly in such cases.

The omnichannel premium beauty retailer opened three new stores in Romania in 2023 and is now ramping up its pace and activities in Central Eastern Europe. With its store network expansion set to continue throughout the new year, DOUGLAS aims to strengthen its presence in major and medium cities across the country.