"The centre-west area will register a big growth in the next three years. There are already five major office projects ongoing, and this comes as a necessity of getting closer to the working force, the residential neighbourhoods", says Mihai Paduroiu, head of office agency within CBRE.
According to him, the development of the infrastructure in Orhideea zone and Militari neighbourhood, the existence of the metro and all the facilities are determining that the new space in Bucharest to become more and more interesting for the developers.
"It is an area with a very good infrastructure, with well-shaped plots, rectangular, which makes them extremely attractive for the developers. We are also talking about a zone with prices 20 pct smaller than in the northern zone, which currently includes approx. 50 pct of the total office areas rented ", Paduroiu added.
Even so, the representative of CBRE expects that the North still stays the “star” of the office market, but the need for a secondary development pole becomes clearer and clearer.
"The office market is getting mature. This year we registered a record growth, of 33 pct in the first quarter of the year. New founded companies appeared, as well as companies which entered Romania or companies which developed a lot. ", Mihai Paduroiu added.
According to him, the “star” for the last year’s rentals is the IT&C and telecom field, with 37 pct. share, followed by the FMCG industry, which registered a spectacular growth.
"In the last 18 months 218,000 sq. m class A office were rented only by the IT&C. IT is a positive trend.", conluded the representative of CBRE.
Liviu Tudor, Genesis Development: The development request should not transform to relocation. IT is unhealthy for the market
With a current stock exceeding 2.3 million sq. m in Bucharest and approx. 120,000 sq. m to be delivered thus year, the office development request should not fall in the other extreme, where the trend is to relocate.
"The office requests are slowly turning to relocations, and this is not encouraging a healthy market development. If spaces remain unoccupied is something that pleases us today, but is not the right decision for the market on medium term. As a developer I am thrilled, but I would like a sustainable growth, a real growth, came from companies which are increasing their volumes and not relocating just for a special design. We don’t want growth for relocations sake, but it still happens, only that I hope to be less and less – we must be prepared anytime", added Liviu Tudor, CEO of the real estate developer Genesis Development.
In his opinion, the office market is an industry which should follow the requests’ dynamic. "The flexibility is the key word in front of the tenants. WE must follow the developments of the actual field – an exceptionally reservoir of qualified workforce ", also said Liviu Tudor.
The CEO of Genesis Development also showed that there was a clear trend that large cities would be attractive. "The first 3-4 cities are already a success. We personally are not interested in the province – but who starts to develop offices in large cities now is not going to fail. Our risk profile makes us wait", detailed Tudor.
Octagon: We have too many offices built in too short time
The constructor Octagon, one of the most important locally, sustains that currently there are too many offices built in too short time and crowded especially in the north of Bucharest.
"We have too many offices built in too short time, but also a fragility of the request in the market. In the northern area, for instance, we are facing the absence of the urban infrastructure. Who tried to take Fabrica de Glucoza St. in peak hours only made a km per hour. Pipera is not supporting anymore the traffic volume and alternatives need to be found ", said Alexandros Ignatiadis, co-founder of Octagon Contracting & Engineering.
According to him, one of the most acute problems in the local office market is that we have rentals, but not buyers. "Currently we have two large buyers in the market: NEPI and Globalworth, which are buying buildings, but nobody else is keen to make acquisitions", also said Ignatiadis. (Source: wall-street.ro)
