More than 35,000 corporate employees are expected in the Politehnica - Grozăveşti - Orhideea - Tudor Vladimirescu offices over the next 3 years, as large tenants such as BCR, Bitdefender, IBM, DELL Secure Works, Schlumberger, Temenos and Misys have announced signing pre-lease contracts and this will generate and support in cascade both residential and commercial developments.
In the following 3 years (2018-2020), 279,000 sqm of office space will be delivered, compared to 286,000 sqm developed in all the previous 17 years (2000-2017). One single calendar year - 2018 - will total record deliveries, 160,000 sqm, an area equal to the total post-crisis deliveries (2014-2017). At the end of 2020, Class A office space in the center-west area will be over half a million sq m (565,000 sq m according to plans planned and announced so far).
"Next year, 2018, will bring accelerated growth of the Bucharest real estate market, both in terms of the office and residential. Representative class A office buildings will be delivered, which will radically change the Grozavesti and Politehnica areas, such as The Bridge, Orhideea Towers, Campus 6, Business Garden Bucharest, The Light, and class A buildings in the area adjacent to the center-west area, such as AFI Tech Park office buildings located in the Marriot-Tudor Vladimirescu area", says Alexandru Petrescu, Managing Partner at ESOP Consulting and CORFAC International.
Why do corporates move to center-west?
First, due to the proximity of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, with approximately 20,000 students and the Regie Campus, with 27 student dormitories and 13,000 places occupied by future corporate employees. At a time when 35-40% of office buildings are leased by IT & C, BPO, Call Center, Share Sevices, for which the recruitment of young technical and linguistic staff is challenging, the choice of office space close to the place where these young people learn and live is an important asset in the struggle for attracting and retaining the most talented employees.
Secondly, the proximity to the city center: only 10 minutes on average by car to any of the main squares of Bucharest - Unirii, Universitate, Romana and Victoriei, increases the attractiveness of the center-west area.
The special accessibility by metro weighs significantly. Two major lines are already present and the third is at an advanced stage of the works. The flow of passengers will be handlesd by the six important metro stations: Grozăveşti, Politehnica, Petrache Poenaru, Eroilor, Izvor and Academia Militara.
Last but not least, due to the proximity to three of the most densely populated sectors of the capital, amounting to over 925,000 people only from the official statistics. In a Bucharest where employees are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the amount of time spent in traffic - which, on average, reaches over 8 hours / week, bringing offices closer to employees is already a priority objective for many companies.
The Center - West are also benefits from important commercial developments such as AFI Cotroceni and Plaza Romania malls, Carrefour Orhideea and Vulcan Value Center shopping galleries.
Why now?
Competition in the labor market has become fiercer and the need to recruit young people from university make companies to come in the middle of the area where most of the candidates learn and live.
Developers follow infrastructure investments. The post-crisis dynamics for both the office and residential areas was clearly marked by two major infrastructure projects with a major impact in the center-west area: finalizing in 2011 the works on the BASARAB Passage and 2014 on URANUS Avenue Phase 1.
After the completion of these large infrastructure projects, three important acquisitions took place in Bucharest. In 2011, VASTINT (the IKEA real estate division) acquires from Baduc a land of 20,000 sqm, on the site currently being developed the Business Garden Bucharest project, to be delivered in 2018. In 2014 - FORTE PARTNERS buys from HERCESA the 13,000 sq m plot on which the construction of The Bridge project began. In 2015 SKANSKA acquires the 21,000 sqm land in Iuliu Maniu 6, where it started the works on the Campus 6 project.
In the area there are already announced future infrastructure investments, such as the Ciurel Passage, which is in an advanced stage of construction. The work on the largest infrastructure project announced by the municipality, namely the Splaiul Independenţei - Bucharest-Piteşti highway Penetration, will have a major influence on the long-term development of the area and redirecting of traffic from Bulevardul Iuliu Maniu towards the Bucharest- Pitesti highway.
Moreover, as the classic infrastructure requires a long implementation time, new ways of connecting are being implemented more quickly. When the Campus 6 project would be delivered, the center-west area will be brought to the I'Velo map, the largest bicycle rental operator. (source: ESOP)
