GTC International steps-up real estate activities with E50m project

After starting out with office buildings in Romania, GTC International, one of the top big investors, took its chances and staked 50 million euros on the real estate market. The project involves the construction of America House, a huge office building in Bucharest’s Piata Victoriei area, which is set to be completed in 2006.

Less than a year after selling its first office building, Europe House, for more than $30 million, GTC International has officially begun construction works for its second project – America House. The Israeli investors say that they will not stop here, as the group is also eyeing land for commercial complexes and residential districts.

“We started out in Romania with office buildings, but we believe that soon we shall also be developing projects in the commercial and residential sectors, as we are already operating in these fields in various other countries,” said Eli Alroy, chairman of GTC International.

GTC’s country manager for Romania, Shimon Galon, also feels that the time has come to make investments in real estate projects.

“The next 4-5 years are perfect for real estate investments and whoever heeds this advice will surely become successful,” Gallon stated. According to the GTC official, commercial and residential construction is still lagging behind the office building market.

“We have spent the last four years looking for the right land to develop a retail project on. We have seen 35 locations so far, but none lived up to our expectations. The main problem with these areas had to do with the ownership rights,” Galon added.

Unlike the residential projects developed so far on the Romanian market, the GTC official says that his group is interested in building homes for medium-level purchasers. “These will not be big, expensive houses, but homes build on 80-100 square metres that will be sold for about 80,000 euros, as this kind of money can easily be borrowed from a bank,” Galon explained.

GTC’s single active project, for the moment, is America House, an office building that follows the lead of Europe House, the first such building erected by the Israeli investors. The Turkish group Ozer is the general contractor, with Romanian-American company Westfourth Architecture in charge of the design.

“America House will have a built-up area of 45,000 square metres, which is bigger than Europe House, and this is likely to push the investment up to 50 million euros,” Galon said.

According to GTC International officials, funding will come from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Raiffeisen Bank. The company is also looking for tenants, following the same policy it pursued in the case of Europe House. “We are already in talks with three banking groups concerning very large spaces. We did receive many applications for smaller office areas, but we would rather wait for the time being,” the GTC Romania official said.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro