Siminel Andrei, NCH manager for Romania, has started focusing on the construction of commercial and residential spaces. The respective projects are worth some 300 million euros.
New Century Holdings (NCH), managing one of the biggest investment funds on the market, Broadhurst, will make a strong entry onto the real estate market through the construction of a mall and a number of apartment buildings, with the value of these projects standing at around 300 million dollars. A number of other investors will also get involved in these projects, to be developed in Bucharest.
The necessary funds for the two projects have already been released from New York, where the general headquarters of NCH are based, according to NCH manager for Romania, Siminel Andrei.
NCH has already made solid investments on the real estate market, but has only focused on acquisitions and especially on commercial spaces. However, as prices are increasing on the real estate market, the construction of new residential buildings has become more and more attractive for investors.
NCH plans to build a mall, which could be the biggest in Bucharest, covering some 12 hectares of land. The land belonged to UMEB, a firm owned by Broadhurst, with UMEB itself only making use of 4 of the 16 hectares available. The plot of land is situated on Vasile Milea Street in the Drumul Taberei district of Bucharest. “This would be the largest mall in Bucharest, with investments to total about 200 million dollars,” Siminel Andrei explained.
NCH will finance half of the project, while the other half will come from the Israeli company Africa-Israel Investment. Over 50% of the firm is held by Israeli businessman Lev Leviev. The Africa-Israel group, with turnover of more than one billion euros per annum, also holds properties and residential projects in countries such as Israel, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Great Britain and the Netherlands.
NCH”s other project concerns the construction of a complex of apartment buildings, covering a total of 100,000 square metres on a plot of land measuring some 5 hectares taken from Electrotehnica, another company belonging to the group. The land is situated in front of Bucharest”s Plaza Romania mall.
“The blocks will each have 20 floors and will be constructed around a metallic structure. In older blocks, the top floor apartments are usually the cheapest, given the poor living conditions they offer. The price per square metre will be set depending on location and demand. In any case, the top floor apartments will be the most expensive,” stated Siminel Andrei.
The residential complex to be built by NCH is supposed to be inside a closed perimeter and should include other facilities, such parking lots or a pool.
Based on a price of $1,000 per square metre of apartment, the total value of the project is likely to amount to 100 million dollars.
vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro