TriGranit to start work on Esplanada next year

Real estate developer TriGranit, which is involved in the development of the Esplanada project in the centre of Bucharest, intends to start work on the project in the second half of next year, after the public-private partnership was approved at the beginning of the week. “We have made it past a key moment in the process, which will enable us to see this project through, and hope things will continue along a normal path, so that we are able to start works in the second half of 2009,” said Dan Ghibernea, country manager of TriGranit Development. After securing the government’s approval, the next step is for the contract to be transferred to the Bucharest City Hall for approval. Esplanada will be built on a 10.7-hectare plot, nearby Piata Unirii in Bucharest, which will entail an investment worth around one billion euros. The project will have a built area of around 800,000 square metres, and will include cultural, office, retail spaces, hotels and housing units. Developed as a private-public partnership, the state will come into the ownership of the whole project after 49 years.