Biggest real estate deals of 2018 in Romania: office segment takes the spotlight

The real estate market in Romania saw some big transactions in 2018 and, this time, the office segment took the spotlight with several big deals signed last year. While the overall value of transactions may have been lower than the EUR 1 billion recorded in 2017, the big investors remained active and new ones entered the market. The capital Bucharest remained the main target. Here is a list of the biggest transactions announced in 2018:

Dedeman – The Bridge office project Romanian investors Adrian and Dragos Paval, the owners of the biggest do-it-yourself retailer in Romania – Dedeman, entered the real estate market with a bang in 2018, with the purchase of The Bridge office project developed by Forte Partners. After failed negotiations with Israeli group AFI Europe for the takeover of the AFI Park office project, the Dedeman owners turned to The Bridge, another big office development in Bucharest. The project, which is located in the rising Orhideea area, will have a total leasable area of 80,000 sqm when completed. The first phase, which has been finalized, is fully leased to local lender BCR and technology group IBM, while UPC, Schlumberger and Medicover have already signed for the second phase. The third phase hasn’t been started yet. The value of this deal was not disclosed, but local media and real estate consultants estimated it at over EUR 150 million. Lion’s Head Investments – Oregon Park office project The second-biggest real estate deal of 2018 was also on the office segment, namely South-African group Lion’s Head Investments’ takeover of Oregon Park, an office project in Northern Bucharest developed by Portland Trust. The project’s first two buildings have already been completed while the third one is under construction. The project’s total leasable area is 70,000 sqm and its tenants include Oracle, Deloitte, Euler Hermes and Kepler Alten. The deal’s value was not disclosed, but it was estimated at EUR 120-150 million. For Lion’s Head Investments, a joint-venture between South African investment fund Old Mutual Property and AG Capital, this is the first transaction in Romania. Sonae Sierra – 50% of ParkLake shopping mall Portuguese group Sonae Sierra announced in December that it bought the 50% stake held by its former Joint Venture partner Caelum Development in the ParkLake mall in Bucharest. The two groups were equal partners and invested a total of EUR 180 million in the project, which opened in September 2016. Hungarian group Futureal, which had lent EUR 15 million to Caelum Development for the development, announced in late November that it cashed its investment against EUR 19 million. Proportionally, Sonae Sierra may have paid some EUR 114 million to Caelum Development. The size of the deal was not disclosed, though. ParkLake mall has a leasable area of 70,000 sqm and hosts some 200 retailers.