Romania’s modern office stock is estimated at 2.58 million sq. m, with an average vacancy rate of 14.2%.
Bucharest continues to be a tenants’ market considering the vacancy rate of 15.45. The tenants have a large variety of offices available in almost all the important sub-zones. The relative low level of spaces in construction, with delivery scheduled for 2014 could contribute to balancing the market between owners and tenants by the end of 2014.
The most developed cities in the countryside, considering the modern office request and offer are Cluj Napoca and Timisoara, where the total stock is over 250,000 sq. m. The relative high level of spaces in construction in Cluj Napoca creates the premises for a potential transformation of the market to favourable for the tenants.
On the other side, the limited number of the spaces in construction in Timisoara, together with a constant request from the tenants, could transform this market to being favourable for the owners. The other big cities in the country have a small stock of modern offices, with an evident limitation of the A Category spaces.
The most important cities in Romania for the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and SSC (Shared Service Outsourcing) segments are Bucharest, Cluj Napoca and Timisoara, where important international companies have opened such centres.
Moreover, Iasi becomes more and more attractive, considering the constant availability of the labour.
The rents for A category range between EUR 14 - 18 /sq. m in Bucharest and EUR11 - 13,5 /sq. m in Cluj Napoca and Timisoara.
The anchor tenants (over 4,000 sq. m ) can obtain in Bucharest important financial incentives, lowering the effective net rent with down to 15% from the asked rent. In the other important cities in Romania, the limited availability of this type of large premises leads to the prolongation of the lease signing process.
“The strong educational system, the availability of the labour, the cultural affinity between Romania and the Western countries, as well as the knowledge of several foreign languages by the young people offer the perfect context for the development of the BPO / SSC sector in Romania” has declared Razvan Iorgu, general manager of CBRE Romania. (source: economica.net)
