“We expect the total volume in 2015 to be around 800 million euro, based on the fact that a number of key office and industrial buildings within Romania are currently in advanced stages of negotiations,” JLL said in its Q2 Bucharest City Report.
Property investment volume in Romania rose to nearly 1.3 billion euro in 2014.
Five office buildings are scheduled to be delivered this year in Bucharest. City Offices, with an area of 27,000 sq m, was delivered in the first quarter. Green Court Building B and George Enescu OB are scheduled for delivery in the second and third quarter, respectively, and Plaza Romania and AFI Park 4&5 are to be delivered in the fourth quarter.
JLL expects that the vacancy rate on the office segment will marginally increase over the next 12 months from 13.3% at present.
On the retail segment, the second quarter saw new openings totalling 72,000 sq m in Bucharest.
For 2015, a total of five retail projects are in the pipeline in Romania, including Pipera Plaza in Bucharest and four malls in Constanta, Deva, Targu Mures and Drobeta Turnu Severin.
Food operators were the most active retailers, with Mega Image being by far the most aggressive, after opening 114 stores during last year alone. For 2015, the Belgian retailer, on top of opening new proximity shops, is planning to open the largest Mega Image store, across from Baneasa Shopping City, where they will be joined by Decathlon, the report said.
On the industrial segment, the completions reported in the second quarter include the 52,000 sq m built-to-suit units in Timisoara Airport Park, the 20,000 sq m Olympian Timisoara, the extension of 10,000 sq m in Transilvania Logistic Park Cluj and the new 4,000 sq m development of CTP at Turda. About 160,000 sq m are expected to be delivered in Romania by the end of the year.