Developers see more potential for shopping centers outside Bucharest

The intense competition between the existing shopping centers in Bucharest pushes the retail space developers to start projects in other big and medium cities in Romania, or expand their presence in those locations, although there is still room for new commercial projects in the capital as well, according to real estate consultancy firm CBRE.

The total modern retail stock in Romania, which includes both retail parks and shopping centers, reached approximately 3.7 million square meters at the end of June 2019. By the end of the year, approximately 130,600 meters squares will be added on top of this, according to CBRE's "Romania MarketView H1" report.

There is still room for retail expansion in Bucharest, says CBRE's Head of Analysis and Transactions, Carmen Ravon. However, developers are still focusing on secondary and tertiary cities, a trend seen since last year, that continued in the first half of 2019.

The expansion of Veranda Mall (about 6,000 square meters) was the only project delivered in the capital city, according to CBRE. Strong competition between existing shopping centers in Bucharest encourages retail developers to expand their investments in regional cities by developing small projects with high expansionary potential, Carmen Ravon explained.

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