The deal was successfully intermediated by Jones Lang Lassalle, exclusively representing Electronic Arts Inc. globally, and by The Advisors/Knight Frank, exclusively representing AFI Europe.
AFI Park 2 has been specifically designed according to Electronic Arts special technical specification requirements that included very high and specific demands in terms of Electricity, HVAC, Security and Data centres.
“The fact that Electronic Arts, one of the leading companies in the world, has chosen to relocate and expand in AFI Park is a proof of our capability to provide high quality office space, adapted to serve the particular needs required by IT companies including an energy saving building that is maximizing its tenants’ welfare, high efficiency in its floor plate design and high quality finishing. The lease agreement signed with Electronic Arts shows once more that AFI Park, with its development cycle of delivering a new building every 14 months, is the perfect solution for tenants which requires expansion options and solutions for their future development needs”, said David Hay, CEO AFI Europe Romania.
“Due to the great interest shown by multinational companies for AFI Park and given that the entire second building has now been leased and that we are in advanced negotiations for a 6,000 sqm prelease in the third office building, AFI Park 3, which is currently under construction expected to be completed by end of 2014, AFI Europe is planning to commence the construction of AFI Park 4 and 5 next year”, added David Hay.
”We believe that this complex lease agreement signed with a leading American company active in this dynamic technology and entertainment domain is the most important leasing transaction for the Romanian office market in 2013 and a proof that Romania is ahead of competing countries in the CEE such as Poland, Hungary or Czech Republic when it comes to IT&C. AFI Park 2 offered the tailored solution to the specifics of our client’s needs”, stated Marius Scuta, Head of the Office Department Jones Lang LaSalle.
“We are delighted that our success story in representing AFI Park, which commenced two years ago, continues with this transaction, the largest one concluded on the office market in Romania in 2013. This is further evidence that we have a shared vision with AFI Europe, the project’s developer, on the location and quality standards of a successful business park”, added Horia Moldovan, Associate Director, Office Division at The Advisers/Knight Frank.
About AFI Park 2:
AFI Park 2 is set to be delivered in April 2014. The office building is equipped with 6 elevators, an advanced BMS saving energy system together with the most efficient floor plate in Bucharest. AFI Park 2 provides 170 dedicated underground parking spaces. The office building is currently under process to receive LEED Gold certification for Green Building.
AFI Park is linked to AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping mall, which is the largest complex of retail and business in Romania and one of the biggest in the CEE. AFI Park is easily accessible through the public transport system, with a nearby subway station Politehnica, only 200 meters from the project in addition to 12 different bus and tram lines that are serving the mall and the business park. A new Metro line, currently under construction (Drumul Taberei - Piata Universitatii - Pantelimon), will provide an additional station “Orizont” that will be located 200 meters from the business office park on the Timisoara Blvd. side.
The first office building in AFI Park, AFI Park 1, with 12,200 sqm of gross leasable area, has been delivered on September 2012 and its office space is 100% leased.
About AFI Europe
AFI Europe is a leading real estate development, management and investment company operating in Central and Eastern Europe since 1997 and is focusing on the development of large-scale commercial, residential and mixed use projects.
AFI Europe’s diversified portfolio consists of shopping malls and retail properties, business parks and large-scale residential and mixed-use developments. AFI Europe operates in Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Latvia.
The total value of AFI Europe’s assets is €1.13 Billion as of 30 June 2013
AFI Europe Income-generating portfolio consists of 337,000 sqm (as of June 30, 2013)
AFI Europe is part of the AFI Group – an international holdings and investments conglomerate with subsidiaries that engage in real estate, construction, infrastructure, industry and hotels (www.afigroup-global.com)
About AFI Europe Romania:
AFI Europe operates in Romania since 2005. The company developed and operates “AFI Palace Cotroceni”, the biggest and most dominant shopping mall in Romania and among the biggest shopping malls in the CEE region. The project spreads over a leasable area of more than 80,000 sqm and offers to its visitors a large entertainment area with multiple leisure options and a variety of over 300 shops of local and international brands, visited by 52,000 customers per day.
Adjacent but fully integrated into AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping mall, AFI Europe Romania is currently developing AFI Park, Bucharest’s newest and most advanced Class A business Park. The Park offers more than 60,000 of office leasable area, currently targeted by multinational IT&C corporations. The first building, AFI Park 1, with 12,200 sqm of gross leasable area, has been delivered on September 1st, 2012 and its office space is 100% leased. Currently, AFI Europe Romania is developing AFI Park 2 and AFI Park 3, which will be delivered in April, and November 2014 respectively. Each building offers 12,200 sqm of Gross Leasable Area.
On October 3rd, 2013 AFI Europe inaugurated AFI Palace Ploiesti, the first and only modern shopping mall developed in the city center of Ploiesti, following an investment of over EUR 50 million. The shopping mall offers a total gross leasable area (GLA) of 33,000 square meters spreading over two retail floors occupied by 100 national and international brands, along with more than 7,000 sqm of entertainment.
In addition, AFI Europe Romania has two retail projects to be developed in the near future, “AFI Palace Arad”, a 30,000 sqm GLA retail park to be developed in the city centre of Arad, on a land plot of 80,000 sqm and “AFI Palace B.Noi”, a 36,000 sqm GLA Shopping Mall to be developed in Bucharestii Noi district 1 of Bucharest.
In the office segment, AFI will develop AFI Business Park Bucharest, a 50,000 sqm of GLA class A business park to be located in close proximity to the J.W. Marriott hotel and the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest’s district 5.The business park will comprise of 4 low rise office buildings and one office tower, with ample green areas, a high tech/campus style environment in an urban complex with a central plaza & gardens.
