The supply of new Class A office space delivered in capital Bucharest in 2017 was absorbed almost entirely by demand, as per a report by real estate consulting firm CBRE regarding the office space market in 2017, which also says 90% of the office space area completed in 2017 has already been leased.
Company data also show that in 2017, the net demand (excluding renewals/renegotiations) accounted for nearly 70% of the overall office space demand, and the overall demand exceeded the threshold of 350,000 square meters, being 30% higher than in 2015 and 22% higher than in 2014.
The new demand of office space on the Bucharest real estate market, which comprises new market entries, companies’ extensions with new divisions and space extensions, made up 28% of the overall demand, the CBRE report also shows.
Thus, more than 10,000 new jobs were created in 2017 in Bucharest.
CBRE Romania was involved in 37% of the overall surface area traded by consulting firms, namely, in 43 transactions, being market leader both in representing owners, with a 33% market share, and tenants, with a 39% market share.
The most active areas in terms of office space demand were Bucharest’s northern area (29%), Pipera (26%), West (16%), Central Business District (15%) and Center (14%). The demand came mainly from the IT (48%), industrial production and energy (16%) and financial (11%) sectors.
Pre-leases held a significant share in 2017, accounting for nearly 22% of the overall demand represented by this type of transactions. The biggest transaction coordinated by CBRE targeted ING Bank and consisted of consolidation in Expo Business Park by 19,000 sqm.
In 2017, companies’ demand targeted office space areas bigger than 5,000 sqm and CBRE brokered five transactions of this type. Over 60% of the surface area per project traded by the company was higher than 1,000 sqm.
The modern office space stock reached the threshold of 2.76 million sqm, of which 1.29 million sqm in Class A buildings and 1.47 million sqm in Class B buildings. The largest office space projects completed in 2017, which total nearly 100,000 sqm, are Timpuri Noi Square, developed by Vastint and The Bridge (Forte Partners) in Grozavesti area, as well as Globalworth Campus – A building, developed by Globalworth. The Aviatorilor 8A project, located in Victoriei Square, was also delivered in 2017. The project was developed by NEPI and was 100% leased by GE and Fitbit, within transactions coordinated by CBRE. Overall, over 120,000 sqm of office space was completed in Bucharest, in 2017.