Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Office

  • Rent24 takes over 100% of Friendsfactory

    Rent24 takes over 100% of Friendsfactory

    Following the successful merger in 2017, the r24 Group is taking over the Friendsfactory AG completely. “Over time, we have grown successfully together, and we have constantly evaluated the development. For this reason, we have decided to focus entirely on the core brand rent24 and exercise our call option,” explains Robert Bukvić, founder and CEO of rent24. 

    Gregor Gebhardt, founder of Friendsfactory, will continue to provide advice. “The last two years have been interesting, but now I want to devote myself to new exciting real estate projects,” says Gebhardt, who will keep the brand “Friendsfactory”.

    For the time being, hardly anything will change for the tenants, the existing employees will continue to be contact persons and the locations will continue to be operated. “In future, the members can look forward to even more benefits, such as the integration in our corporate design, more comfort and the opportunity to use the international network of the rent24 community thanks to their membership,” says Bukvić.

    Currently, more than 70 locations belong to rent24, besides Germany among others in the US, the Netherlands and the UK. The expansion is to be continued to existing markets as well as to new regions, such as Southern Europe and Asia.

    rent24 was established in Berlin in 2015 by founder and CEO Robert Bukvić.

  • Castellum starts the construction of GreenHaus Helsingborg

    Castellum starts the construction of GreenHaus Helsingborg

    Castellum is beginning the construction on the GreenHaus office building with over 10,000 sq.m. in Oceanhamnen, Helsingborg’s new city district. The total investment for the project, including land acquisition, is calculated to MSEK 300.

    “It feels very positive that we can start construction on GreenHaus. This is an important project for us in an exciting new city district which has just begun to take form. The building will be WELL-certified and we’re also planning for a major coworking venture,” says Henrik Saxborn,CEO of Castellum AB. 

    In connection with the GreenHaus inauguration, the Castellum-owned United Spaces coworking company will invite individuals and companies to check out coworking possibilities on one of the building floors. 230 workplaces have been factored into the calculation. This is the first United Spaces operations office to be set up in Helsingborg.

    Fully leased, rental income is estimated to amount to approximately MSEK 19. The current occupancy rate is approx. 31%. Occupancy will occur during spring of 2022.

    Property values of Castellum reaches SEK 92.7 billion

    Castellum is one of the largest listed real estate companies in Sweden. Property values amount to SEK 92.7 billion and holdings comprise office, warehousing/logistics and public sector properties, covering a total leasable area of 4.2 million square metres.

    The real estate portfolio is owned and managed under the Castellum brand through a decentralized organization with strong and clear local presence in 20 cities in Sweden and also in Copenhagen and Helsinki.

    In 2019, Castellum received two awards for sustainability efforts; designated Number One in the world by GRESB for the offices-and-logistics sector, as well as the Level Gold award for sustainability reporting from the EPRA (European Public Real Estate Association).

    In addition, Castellum is the only Nordic real-estate and construction company elected to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), joining a select group of companies in the world who perform best on sustainability issues. The Castellum share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Large Cap.

  • Deloitte: The global commercial real estate industry continues to grow

    Deloitte: The global commercial real estate industry continues to grow

    Global commercial real estate leaders are optimistic about the industry’s prospects over the coming year, despite global economic volatility, according to Deloitte 2020 Commercial Real Estate Outlook.

    76 percent of respondents expect a positive evolution of the industry in the next period. The survey shows that that the tenant experience has become a top priority for most commercial real estate leaders, with a focus on investment in new technologies.

    Three-quarters of the respondents are optimistic and very optimistic about the industry’s performance over the next year, 14 percent are neutral and 10 percent are pessimistic. Respondents in Asia are the most optimistic, followed by those in North America and Europe.

    “The high level of optimism among the commercial real estate players is not surprising. In times of economic volatility, the investors’ attention goes towards tangible, high quality assets, which provide a medium or long-term investment horizon. When sudden economic changes occur, the real estate industry typically reacts within six to 12 months. In Romania, the commercial real estate sector is one of the most stable, given that demand is still higher than the supply. Considering the competition on the labor market, on one hand, and the consumption increase, on the other hand, the interest for office and commercial spaces is natural and will remain high over the next period,” said Alexandra Smedoiu, Partner, Deloitte Romania, Real Estate Industry Leader.

    In this year’s outlook, Deloitte experts explore a new element, the impact of the new technologies that are reshaping tenants and end users’ experience, such as AI (artificial intelligence) or IoT (Internet of Things).

    In this context, 92 percent of respondents plan to maintain or increase their tenant experience-related technology investments. As for the smart buildings, they will become the norm over the next five years, according to approximately three-quarters of respondents.

    This year’s commercial real estate outlook surveyed 750 executives – owners/operators, developers, brokers and investors – in ten countries form Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.

  • One United Properties gets building permit for One Cotroceni Park

    One United Properties gets building permit for One Cotroceni Park

    One United Properties obtained the building permit for the first phase of One Cotroceni Park, an 80,000 sqm Gross Lettable Area (GLA) business park in central Bucharest.


    “We are marking the start of the largest urban regeneration project in the central area of Bucharest, on a 5.8 hectare plot,” says Mihai Păduroiu, CEO | Office Division, One United Properties, adding: “The size of the lot allows us to build a concept that will redefine the classic real estate developments, outlining on the map of Bucharest a new point of interest.”

    The first stage of this large-scale project is represented by a business park developed under the concept of “Flex Well Tech”: “Flexible office spaces, which facilitate access to green areas and offer a variety of services regarding the health and well-being of employees, built according to the latest technological standards”, explains Mihai Păduroiu the latest office concept development on the Bucharest market.

    One Cotroceni Park is a unique project on the capital’s office market, with benefits such as: location within the city’s central ring and direct access to the subway, flexible surfaces from 3,400 sqm to 8,000 sqm, elevated gardens, green spaces, areas for outdoor sports activities and a panoramic view of the neighborhoods – Cotroceni Palace, Botanical Garden or Parliament Palace.

    At the same time, One Cotroceni Park gives a new dimension to the concept “Work -Live – Shop”, offering future employees and residents, who will live within the project, a retail area with an area of ​​15,000 sqm, comparable to that of a medium-sized shopping center.
    The residential component of the One Cotroceni Park mixed-use project provides approximately 800 apartments, which will be developed in several phases starting from 2020.
    For a high level of comfort of the employees of the future tenants, One Cotroceni Park will be directly connected to the future subway station Academia Militara through an underground passage.

    The underground level, dedicated to parking, will benefit from 10 access exits for efficient traffic within the complex. Keeping the developer’s “eco” vision, One Cotroceni Park will be LEED (targeting LEED PLATINUM level) and WELL certified, with an emphasis on improving employees’ health and well-being through the quality of the work environment.

    With the three major projects underway: One Tower, part of the One Floreasca City complex, the office tower of One Verdi Park complex and One Cotroceni Park, One United Properties is the developer with the largest office space under construction on the Romanian market.

  • Middle Eastern investor enters Romanian real estate market

    Corporate Finance House Group, a Middle Eastern investor, has acquired the holding structure owning Day Tower office building in Bucharest, developed by Dimitris Mourkakos of Day Group and completed end of 2018.

    The Investor was advised by Savills on its first investment in the country; the developer was assisted by Crosspoint Real Estate.

    Day Tower is a brand new, grade A office building, close to the historic centre of the city, in the immediate vicinity of the National Library of Romania and Bucharest City Courthouse, and close to the Palace of Parliament Building, the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon. The building hosts under a long-term agreement the country headquarters of Enel, a global leader in the energy sector.

    The building has been certified with a BREEAM rating of “Excellent”.

    Chris Gillum, Head of Offices, Savills Regional Investment Advisory EMEA, says: “This is our client’s first investment in Bucharest, predicted to be one of the top ten fastest growing European cities over the next five years. This follows an increasing trend we have witnessed in the market, of international capital targeting the yield premiums available in the CEE markets. Day Tower is a high-quality asset in the central area of the city which is well let and will undoubtedly benefit as the district continues to develop.”

  • Office deliveries in Bucharest could break 300,000 sqm

    In the third quarter of 2019, 66,000 sqm of new modern office buildings came online in the Bucharest office market and there are big chances to break the 300,000 sqm threshold, according to real estate consultancy company Colliers International.

    The higher vacancy and infrastructure discrepancies will likely support a more thorough segmentation of the market, with the gap between well-located buildings and those at the opposite spectrum likely to increase over the medium term.

    The third quarter saw a gross demand at 74,800 sqm in Bucharest, up by c.18% in the January-September period (to around 263,000 sqm). However, the net take-up is still down some 20% in the first three quarters of 2019, to 83,600 sqm, with 35,000 sqm in Q3 2019.

    Over 100,000 sqm of leasing transactions in the first 9 months of 2019 were generated by relocations from competitive stock, on track for an all-time high this year. Around two thirds of these deals are pre-leases, meaning that their impact is yet to be felt on the vacancy rate, which remains in a market neutral-area of c.10%.

    Some 66,000 sqm in new modern office buildings came online in the third quarter, coming from 3 projects – Expo Business Park in the Expozitiei area (c.38,400 sqm), The Light in Center West submarket (c.21,700 sqm) and Eminescu Office near Romana Square (c.6,300 sqm), thus taking the grand total for deliveries this year to over 250,000 sqm in the first three quarters of the year.

    There are big chances to break the 300,000 sqm threshold in terms of deliveries, but as usual, there is always the danger that one or more may get delayed into 2020

    „Bucharest is gradually turning into a tenant market overall (a trend likely to become more visible in 2020), which may lead to pressures on the aggregate headline rate, though in isolated cases, some submarkets or even highly sought-after buildings within some submarkets may still reward landlords with a stronger position in negotiations”, Sebastian Dragomir, Director Office Advisory at Colliers, said.

    The IT&C segment was by far the star of the show yet gain, generating close to 58% of the total market demand (and the bulk of the net take-up as well), followed at a great distance by the financial and professional services segments, both with a market share of around 11%.

    In terms of locations, take-up focused both on active submarkets in terms of new deliveries and also established markets amid renewals, with Center West accounting for almost 20% of gross take-up in the first three quarters of the year, followed by 5 other submarkets with a share of between 10 and 14% of total demand.

    Overall, high-frequency indicators suggest that the very near-term outlook remains largely good for the Bucharest office market, with demand still likely in line with the trend seen this economic cycle, though external uncertainties cloud the longer-term outlook.

  • TransPerfect opens new office in Bucharest

    TransPerfect, the world’s largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business, announced the opening of a new office in Bucharest.

    The office will serve primarily as a technology R&D hub working on the company’s GlobalLink translation management technology, as well as a tech incubator fostering innovative and creative ideas designed to help clients improve their ability to launch and manage content in multiple languages.

    The Bucharest facility joins the company’s existing global network of offices in more than 90 cities that comprise the world’s largest translation services and technology company.

    TransPerfect CEO and President Phil Shawe remarked, „Opening in Romania has been a goal of ours for quite some time, and we’re thrilled that this day has finally come. We expect that this office will prove to be a valuable source of innovation for our technology group.”

    Who is TransPerfect

    TransPerfect is the world’s largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business.

    From offices in over 90 cities on six continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in 170+ languages to clients worldwide.

    More than 5,000 global organizations employ TransPerfect’s GlobalLink Product Suite to simplify management of multilingual content.

    TransPerfect has global headquarters in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong.

  • Thales becomes the largest tenant of Orhideea Towers

    Thales has leased another 5,300 sq m in Orhideea Towers office complex in the Centre-West area of Bucharest, thus doubling the area occupied in the project owned by CA Immo.

    The real estate consultancy company JLL advised Thales in the process of identifying the best extension options and in negotiating the contract.

    „Thales becomes the largest tenant of Orhideea Towers, with almost 11,000 square meters of office space, respectively 30% of the area of the building. This is the second phase of our partnership with Thales, the first phase materializing last year by representing them in the relocation transaction in 5,300 sqm of offices in Orhideea Towers. We were able to identify for Thales a flexible solution that would allow them to further expand their operations in Romania”, said Maria Florea, Key Client Director JLL Romania.

    The Center-West area of Bucharest is one of the most dynamic office sub-markets in Romania. Many companies that are interested in Bucharest office market, consider this area due to the multiple public transportation solutions, the proximity of the largest university campus in Romania and the engineering and IT faculties.

    The total office stock in the West Center reached over 416,600 square meters, 14% of Bucharest total stock, another 57,000 square meters being planned for completion by the end of next year.

    Thales has relocated to Orhideea Towers at the end of last year from Riverplace (Riverview House), also owned by CA Immo. Currently, more than 550 specialists work in the company, and the plans are aimed at reaching the figure of 1,000 engineering specialists by 2021.

    Orchidea Towers is located in the west-central part of Bucharest, in the newest office pole of the city. The project has a total rentable area of about 36,500 square meters and includes two “H” shaped towers, connected by a glazed bridge, having areas between 1,200 sqm and 2,600 sqm per level. The building is LEED Platinum certified.

  • The modern office stock in 15 CEE countries will reach 30 mil sqm by 2021

    The largest supply of modern office space in 15 CEE countries was recorded in Warsaw, Budapest and in Prague, while the biggest increase of new supply in H1 2019 was noted in Bucharest (185,000 sqm), according to the newest report by real estate consultancy company, Colliers International.

    On a per capita basis, Bucharest’s office surface is around one third below Warsaw’s, which is also significantly below other Western European markets, so there might be room to grow.

    The Coliers report analyzes office markets in 15 CEE countries: Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

    Most modern office projects are located in the capitals of the countries, although the office market is also developing in regional cities. In the first half of 2019 in all capitals of the 15 analyzed countries tenants leased over 1.5 million sqm of modern office space.

    More and more office buildings boast of prestigious certificates, modern technological and ecological solutions and innovatively designed space. The most active tenant sectors are IT, professional services, banking and BPO/SSC.

    „Total modern office stock in 15 CEE countries in H1 2019 reached almost 27 million sqm. At that time, developers completed 707,000 sqm and 3.7 million sqm is currently under construction. The largest supply of modern office space was recorded in Warsaw, Budapest and in Prague, while the biggest increase of new supply in H1 2019 was noted in Bucharest. Second place in terms of the amount of new office space completed in the same time took Sofia, followed by Warsaw,” says Dominika Jędrak, Director of Research and Consultancy Services, Colliers International.

    Central Europe – renovation of industrial properties into modern office space is one of the market trends

    In Czechia and Slovakia in the first half of 2019, over 130,000 sqm of modern office space was commissioned in Prague and Bratislava. There is also a current market trend towards renovation of old industrial properties into modern and vibrant office spaces. One example of that can be a mixed-use project Pradiareň 1900, involving the refurbishment of the former Bratislava Thread Factory.

    Bucharest has turned into one of the most dynamic economies in the CEE region. This is closely related to the labor force, which offers a nice mix of good language skills as well as much lower costs than in Western Europe. Romania and Bucharest do have a couple of things that set it apart from other peers and even other more developed markets in Europe: a very strong IT&C community.

    „While vacancy is expected to be on the rise over the next couple of years, there are some silver linings. Bucharest still has quite a lot of stock built about a decade ago and part of it would not meet today’s qualitative/technical standards. Vacancy tends to vary quite a lot from submarket to submarket and even between projects in the same submarket. Furthermore, on a relative (per capita) basis, Bucharest’s office surface is still around one third below Warsaw’s, which is also significantly below other Western European markets, so there might still be quite a lot of room to grow”, Sebastian Dragomir, Director Office Advisory at Colliers International Romania, said.

    Warsaw is also developing very quickly, there are approximately 40 office buildings under construction with a total area of over 830,000 sqm, which will gradually fill the supply gap in the next 24 months. The largest projects include The Warsaw HUB, Mennica Legacy Tower and Varso Place – the highest building in European Union. 

    At the end of H1 2019, the total office stock in Budapest exceeded the 3.6 million sqm. The market remained landlord driven in 2019. The largest deals are usually closed by tenants active in the IT, financial and pharmaceutical sectors and by state related occupiers. The speculative office pipeline under construction till 2021 accounts to 404,000 sqm, out of which 95,000 sqm office space is expected to be handed over by the end of 2019.

  • Portland Trust leases 30,000 square meters to Ubisoft in J8 Office Park

    Portland Trust has signed a prelease with Ubisoft Bucharest for approximately 30,000 square meters at J8 Office Park in Bucureștii Noi, in close proximity to Jiului metro station. 

    Ubisoft, one of the biggest worldwide video game producers, known for titles such as Just Dance, Assassin’s Creed, Ghost Recon or Watch Dogs, has chosen J8 Office Park as its new headquarters, as the company wants to lead the entertainment industry by expanding both in numbers and development. 

    The independent office building will have approximately 24,000 square meters of office space spanning on 6 floors above a ground floor auditorium, restaurant and fitness center.

    Additionally Ubisoft has taken a further 6,000 square meters in the adjacent building, which will house the company’s Bucharest teams. 

    The ‘A class’ space is fully air conditioned with many energy saving features, electric car chargers, sports changing rooms, vehicle recognition technology, cycle racks and a selection of food and drink points. 

    Florin Furdui, Country Head of Portland Trust, who negotiated the transaction: “We are delighted to have secured Ubisoft as a tenant for our new project. J8 Office Park is the former Pajura bakery and it will be another high quality office development incorporating some new and fresh concepts in office design to meet the standards our tech-focused tenants.”

    J8 Office Park sits in the vibrant new business hub of Bucharest development that is currently undergoing a significant transformation with a series of public and private projects being announced for the area.

    Completion is expected in summer 2021 and the contractor is expected to be appointed shortly.

  • One United Properties has ongoing office projects of 150.000 sqm

    One United Properties, a company with Romanian capital, has ongoing office projects of 150,000 sqm for the following three years, totaling investments of 220 million EUR.

    The strategy is to develop communities in projects with mixed functions, which concentrate facilities and benefits in a single concept: premium and luxury apartments, class A offices, retail spaces serving office and residential components, green spaces and facilities for sports and leisure.

    „We see an upward trend for revitalizing the former industrial platforms of Bucharest, in projects that combine the historical and cultural heritage of the respective places with the contemporary architecture and modern construction technologies,” said Victor Capitanu, Co-Founder One United Properties.

    Construction works at One Tower, part of One Floreasca City complex, are on schedule, the tower reached the GF + 12 level, following to be delivered Q4 2020. The proximity of Floreasca Park, the panoramic view over the lake and the V4 LEED Platinum pre-certification are just a few of the attraction elements of the project.

    At One Cotroceni Park, the developer has begun demolition works and is awaiting the construction authorization for a business park with an area of 80,000 sqm, an innovative concept for companies looking for a solution to make the building more efficient.

    „The concept from One Cotroceni Park offers great flexibility, from 3,400 sqm up to 8,000 sqm per floor. From our estimates, a company with three headquarters in different areas of Bucharest, totaling 15,000 sqm makes annual savings of 250,000 EUR, by moving this space to One Cotroceni Park”, said Ionut Dumitrescu, Co-Founder One Office, the office division.

    One Cotroceni Park is unique on the Bucharest office market, with benefits such as: location within the central ring of the city and direct access to the subway, generous areas per floor, rooftop gardens, retail area with the dimension of a mall, green spaces, areas for outdoor sports activities and a panoramic view of the neighborhoods – Cotroceni Palace, Botanical Garden or Parliament Palace. Delivery term is Q4 2021.

    The third project, One Verdi Park, provides for the construction of two towers, an office and a residential one, in a consecrated area, on Barbu Văcărescu boulevard. The two towers will be connected by a retail space on the ground floor. For this project, the developer starts construction works this fall, the delivery being estimated for Q1 2022.

    All projects will be built in compliance with LEED requirements for green buildings, the developer assuming the delivery of assemblies that will change the face of Bucharest, revitalizing old, abandoned areas.

  • Colliers International advised on the sale of Liberty Technology Park

    Colliers International advised on the sale of Liberty Technology Park office complex, owned by Fribourg Development in Cluj-Napoca, one of Romania’s most important regional real estate hubs. Colliers International also acted as advisor in obtaining financing for the acquisition, where the buyer was White Star Real Estate and its joint venture partner, the endowment fund of a top private university in the USA.  

    The partnership between a real estate player and an educational institution is common practice in other Western countries, but the acquisition of the offices in Cluj represents a unique transaction for the Romanian market, as it brings a change in the pattern of present investors, laying out a pioneering investment case.

    Liberty represents 18,000 square metres of former industrial buildings, redeveloped over the last six years by Fribourg into a modern, industrial feel office park. The technology park comprises five Class A office buildings, BREEAM certified with innovative, eco-friendly and energy efficient technologies, with an additional 3 hectares of land for further development.

    Located in the northern part of the city, Liberty Technology Park enjoys the presence of internationally renowned IT&C and R&D tenants, such as Siemens, IBM, Arvato and Altran. In addition, the Spherik Accelerator was launched here, which strives to improve the local start-up community and help it grow faster internationally.

    About White Star Real Estate

    The buyer, White Star Real Estate, is a regional real estate developer and asset and property manager with offices across the CEE in Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest and Moscow.

    The company has built over 50 projects since 1997, including landmark office buildings, warehouses, logistics parks and other industrial projects, retail, mixed-use concepts and residential developments, and currently manages over 2.4 million sqm of commercial properties for their clients.

    White Star has been present in Romania since 2006, its most prominent project being Lakeview, a 25,000 sqm class A office building.

    Second deal for Colliers International in Cluj

    The sale of Liberty Technology Park marks Colliers International’s second office investment deal in Cluj-Napoca. The company also advised on the sale of Maestro Business Center office building last year, making Colliers International the first international agency to advise an office transaction in a regional city of Romania.

    The acquisition was made by First Property Group, a UK investment fund, and it also changed the investment scene in a city then dominated by local capital.