Year 2018 brings more balanced rents for new offices in Bucharest's main business poles

At the beginning of 2018, there is an even smaller difference between the lower limits of rents in the main business areas of Bucharest, where most new office buildings are developed, according to a study made by ESOP l CORFAC International.
If five years ago, the rents of the new A Class office spaces in Barbu Văcărescu - Aviaţiei - Dimitrie Pompeiu zone started at 16 Euros / sq m / month and reached 17 euro / sq m / month, now starting at 14,5 euro / sq m / month and reach 17,5 euro / sq m / month, being close to the lower limit of the Orhideea - Grozăveşti - Politehnica business area, where the rents are 13,00-14,5 euro / sqm / month.
In the last few months, a number of large projects have been announced in the Expozitiei Area, so that a new business pole is emerging, which is positioned as a level of rents between Barbu Văcărescu - Aviaţiei - Dimitrie Pompeiu and the pole Orhideea - Grozăveşti - Politehnica with values of 14,5-16,5 euro / sq m / month.
"In 2017, the major office projects under construction focused on the main offices in Bucharest, their number growing from two to five business poles. In parallel with the development of the northern center and Victoria-Aviatorilor areas, the center-west pole was consolidated, the Unirii - Timpuri Noi pole was opened and a new office area was announced in the Expoziției – Piața Presei Libere.
Class A office buildings with many facilities, working in the main offices in Bucharest, will deliver an estimated area of over 600,000 sqm in the period 2018-2021 and will attract major Romanian companies, some of them – such as IBM, BCR, ING, Bitdefender, Amazon etc. having already signed pre-lease agreements.
Rents on class A office space in the five office poles are now at a level of between 13 and 18 euro / sq m / month, depending on the area and facilities offered.
The office space in the existing buildings will be gradually released by the big tenants and will make room for medium-sized tenants with budgets of 8-12 euro / sq m / month, which will have access to good office buildings in good locations", says Alexandru Petrescu, Managing Partner at ESOP Consulting l CORFAC International.
The great events of the office market in 2017 were the inauguration of the first phases of Timpuri Noi Square (which opened a new business pole in Bucharest, Unirii-Timpuri Noi) and The Bridge (which gives the start of deliveries of class A spaces in the area Orhideea - Grozăveşti-Politehnica).

In 2018-2019, much more deliveries of new upper-class buildings are expected in all five office desks, with the largest activity being in the center-west and Expozitiei.

Among the major office projects that will deliver new Class A office space in 2018-2019 are:
- Campus 6, Bucharest Business Garden, The Bridge II, Orhideea Towers, The Light, AFI Tech Park, in the business field of Orhideelor - Grozăveşti - Politehnica - Vladimirescu;
- Equilibrum, Globalworth Campus, Oregon Park in Barbu Văcărescu-Aviaţiei-Dimitrie Pompeiu business pole;
- Expo Business Park, City Rose Park in the business floor of the Bd Expozitiei – Piata Presei Libere;
- Unirii View, Day Tower, Timpuri Noi Square, in the Unirii – Timpuri Noi business district  
- The Mark, D'OR Business Center, in the business square of Victory Square - Charles de Gaulle-Dorobanti.
"The evolution of rents in the main office poles in 2018-2019 will depend on the pace of deliveries and the dynamics of business growth and the number of employees of large companies in Bucharest.
We estimate that there will be a tendency to equalize the average rent in the main business fields in Bucharest (Politehnica-Orhideea, Pompeiu-Barbu-Vacarescu, Piata Presei Libere, Unirii-Timpuri Noi), where most of deliveries will take place in the next two years. We consider that the period 2018-2019 is one of the most favorable periods after the 2008 financial crisis, for companies wishing to secure new headquarters at a competitive price, by signing pre-lease agreements before the delivery buildings", added Alexandru Petrescu, Managing Partner at ESOP Consulting l CORFAC International. (source: Esop)