Real estate developers delivered 43,000 square meters of office space in the first six months of 2017, which represents only one-third of the 140,000 sqm area scheduled to be delivered this year, according to an analysis by JLL Real Estate Consultant.

The largest project delivered since the beginning of the year is Timpuri Noi Square, developed by Vastint in the Timpuri Noi area, with an area of 33,000 sqm.

The office stock in Bucharest is around 2.43 million square meters, and on the back of the lowered deliveries this year and sustained demand, the average vacancy rate has fallen to around 9%, a minimum of the market after the financial crisis, according to JLL.

"We continue to see a sustained interest of companies, new or already present in Romania, to open new offices in Bucharest or new business lines. The fact that in the first half of the year, more than 60 companies have rented new spaces for their business in Bucharest, and another 40 have renewed their contracts for the current offices is proof of the investors' confidence in Romania", said Marius Şcuta, head of office agency within JLL Romania..

Depending on the areas, a quarter of the contracts signed during the period under review were for offices in Floreasca-Barbu Vacarescu, followed by CBD (Victoriei Square - Charles de Gaulles Square), West and Centre-West.

Some of the main transactions signed in this first semester include the renewal of the 20,000 sqm agreement in North Gate by Renault, IBM's pre-lease of 12,000 square metres in The Bridge, and Oracle renewed a lease of 10,300 sqm in Sky Tower, according to JLL data.

Real estate developers could deliver around 300,000 sq m of office space in Romania, down 14% from a record 350,000 sq m finished in 2016, according to News.ro data from JLL real estate consultants, DTZ Echinox and CBRE. (source: news.ro)