Office market shows first signs of rebound

Three of the largest companies in the Romanian economy,
Rompetrol, Transelectrica and Raiffeisen sealed rental contracts
for office space covering over 24,000 square metres, accounting for
around 2% of Bucharest’s office stock. Rompetrol will consolidate
its activity in Bucharest and Ploiesti in a 9,300 square-metre area
(six floors) in the City Gates towers in Piata Presei Libere in
northern Bucharest, Transelectrica rented more than half of
Platinum Center in the Sfanta Vineri square area (6,730 square
metres) and Raiffeisen renewed its lease for an 8,000 square-metre
area in Charles de Gaulle Plaza, where it is headquartered.
Companies have started to make decisions at this time amid a rent
decline, after the office market was partially frozen in 2009, with
office space transactions seeing an over 60% drop in compared with
the previous year. Bucharest’s office stock amounts to around 1.3
million square metres, of which an around 200,000 square-metre area
is empty, especially in secondary areas of the city.