The supply of lettable retail space in Bucharest’s mall-type shopping centres is expected to increase by only 12,500 square metres this year, amid the expansion of already existing projects on the market, namely Bucuresti Mall in the Vitan area and City Mall in Eroii Revolutiei Square.
None of the retail projects started from scratch will be completed this year, as shopping centres with a total area of 940,000 square metres are scheduled to be completed in 2010, with the current supply amounting to approximately 143,000 square metres.
“At the end of this month, we’ll finish works on the expansion of the shopping centre. There will be around 3,500 square metres of lettable space added, as well as a 17,600 square metre multi-storey car park with 1,000 spots,” stated Lucian Cretu, the general manager of City Mall, which currently has a lettable area of 21,000 square metres. In the wake of the expansion, which involved investments worth around 26m euros, the average flow of visitors is expected to increase by at least 15-30%, to some 21,000 visitors per day, according to company representatives. Moreover, the number of staff at City Mall will rise by around 25%.
The shopping centre in Eroii Revolutiei was taken over at the end of last year by Australia’s APN/UKA European Retail Trust investment fund for 103.5m euros. The company’s management is reassessing the shopping centre and is also in talks to attract new tenants.
Last year, the mall in southern Bucharest was involved in its third sale of the past three years, with its value witnessing an almost 4 times increase during this period.
Bucuresti Mall was another shopping centre that also expanded this year and saw its area increase by 9,000 square metres of lettable space in the wake of 20m-euro investments.
“After the expansion of the shopping centre, the flow of visitors increased by around 25% to 30,000-35,000 during the week, and to around 43,000 at weekends,” stated Marilena Brinzan, a PR manager at Anchor Grup.
In total, 45 new stores have opened as a result of the expansion of Bucuresti Mall. Besides commercial space, the new section of the mall includes a multi-storey car park with an 800-car capacity. In addition, the number of employees at Bucuresti Mall has increased by around 500-900.
Despite the high number of commercial projects announced for the coming years, just two projects will be finalised in 2008 – Baneasa Shopping City, part of Baneasa project in northern Bucharest, and Sun Plaza, in Berceni, which will make available around 160,000 square metres of lettable space on the market.
Romania is among the countries with the lowest volume of mall-type commercial space (around 20 square metres per 1,000 inhabitants), which has stirred the interest of foreign retail developers, who have announced massive future investments.
Bucharest’s malls expand
The supply of lettable retail space in Bucharest’s mall-type shopping centres is expected to increase by only 12,500 sqm this year, amid the expansion of already existing projects on the market
City Mall’s lettable space will increased by around 3,500 sqm, as well as the addition of a 17,600 sqm multi-storey car park with 1,000 spots
Bucharest Mall saw its area increase by 9,000 sqm of lettable space in the wake of 20m-euro investments.