More firms move from old buildings to modern offices in Bucharest

Companies rented almost 70,000 sqm of office space in Bucharest in the first quarter. A third of the demand came from companies that formerly had their headquarters in old, small buildings or in other spaces than modern buildings, also known as noncompetitive stock. This segment of demand increased compared with last year, when it accounted for only 7% of the total take-up. On average, each company that moved its offices for the first time into a modern office building contracted 2,200 sqm, more than the average of the total demand, of 1,166 sqm. The areas in Bucharest targeted by companies that moved their headquarters into modern office buildings were Center, with more than half of the demand and West, with 30% of the total. IT & communications companies continued to be the most active tenants with more than 60% of demand in Bucharest, followed by energy companies, which cumulated over a quarter of total take-up. More than 60% of the total take-up represented new demand (new contracts, extensions of the existing offices and pre-lettings). On supply side, only one building was delivered in the first quarter, Globalworth Campus Building 2, with an area of 28,000 sqm. For the whole year, developers plan to deliver around 230,000 sqm of new office spaces, compared to 140,000 sqm completed in 2017. Almost half of the office space in Romania has green certification editor@romania-insider.com