Owner of Baneasa mall in Northern Bucharest plan EUR 300 mln expansion

Baneasa Developments, the company that operates the Baneasa Shopping City commercial center in Northern Bucharest, plans to expand its commercial area by an additional 127.000 sqm usable area of modern retail facilities until 2026, thus more than doubling its existing letting space, following investments of around EUR 300 million. “The company’s long-term expansion plan would be the catalyst for additional greenfield development (commercial, office and residential) in the area, spanning on a total of 1.4 million sqm usable area (with residential accounting for 76%), which would lead to Romania having the largest mixed-use project in CEE,” reads a company press release. At present, the existing mixed-use platform in Baneasa has approximately 170,000 sqm usable area, with residential accounting for 44%. A KPMG study commissioned by Baneasa Developments shows that the existing and greenfield development project consisting of commercial, residential and office areas may potentially yield an estimated total economic impact of around EUR 6 billion over the 2017-2026 timeframe. Moreover, the Baneasa platform is estimated to generate over EUR 1.9 billion in net salaries, paying approximately 220,000 salaries and around EUR 2.3 billion in tax contributions. Overall, the project would sustain more than 30,000 jobs in 2026, according to the same study. Between 2005 and 2016, the existing Baneasa mixed-use development paid around 130,000 salaries, amounting to some EUR 590 million. The project sustained around 14,000 jobs in 2016. Baneasa Developments currently operates one of the largest shopping centers in Bucharest, with approximately 80.000 sqm commercial space and 364 shops. The company invested some EUR 165 million in its retail center over the past ten years. Baneasa Developments currently operates Baneasa Shopping City, Feeria Shopping Gallery, Grand Cinema & More and KFC Drive-in. Additionally, it manages the Baneasa commercial area, including Carrefour, Mobexpert, Metro and BricoDepot stores. The company registered revenues of over EUR 49 million last year, and a net profit of EUR 16 million. In early August, Gabriel Popoviciu, who is one of the owners of the Baneasa Shopping City mall in Northern Bucharest, was sentenced to seven years in prison, no parole, in a fraud and corruption case over how he received the 224-hectare land on which he built the mall and other real estate projects. However, he left the country and later turned himself in at a police station in London. He was then released on bail. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com