Business Review

Slovakian developer HB Reavis has downgraded Romania in its investment perspectives, soon after announcing interest in the country, mainly due to the inflated price of land, Marian Hlavacka, CEO of Slovakian HB Reavis group, told Business Review.

This year was the first one when Bucharest City Hall took part in the MIPIM real estate fair in Cannes as an exhibitor, a long time after Romanian companies started to have their own booths at the fair. The country's official presence was well overdue, say commentators, as capital cities in the region have been doing this for many years.

This year's MIPIM real estate event in Cannes, with 28,000 participants on site, shows the real estate scene has slightly changed. The Russian presence has increased, as has the Central and South European one. Some European cities dropped down the list, others emerged. New cities, including Bucharest, had their place in the fair, trying to attract more money. Business Review wraps up some of the main trends in real estate and how they are mirrored on the Romanian market.

Plaza Centers, part of Europe Israel Group, has announced a commercial center development in Targu Mures, following an investment of EUR 75 million. According to the developer, construction works are set to start in the second half of 2008 and will last two years. The commercial center, located near the center of the town, will deliver a leasable area of 32, 000 sqm, including 2,600 sqm for office space and 1,000 parking spaces. The project would be Plaza Centers' seventh investment in Romania since the company launched its first project in 2006.

Romanian construction company Concefa has announced plans to develop a 400-apartment project in Sibiu. For the investment, it plans to get a EUR 16 million credit from a bank.

The Romanian subsidiary of the Belgian developer of tailor-made industrial parks, Immo Industry Group (IIG), is developing two tailor-made industrial parks in Satu Mare and the Fundulea area, near Bucharest. IIG bought the land in Satu Mare in 2007 when the company entered on the Romanian market.

The Norwegian manager of investment fund Realkapital Partners has launched a new fund named CEE Residential Fund, with Cushman & Wakefield Residential as the strategic real estate partner.

American construction firm Mega Company has recently announced it would start construction of a project comprising an outlet retail park worth EUR 80 million, besides the construction of a residual water treatment station requiring EUR 19 million of investment. It will also acquire two plots in Romania for developing two outlet-type retail parks, totaling an investment of EUR 130 million in 2008, according to Chang S. Oh, managing director of the company.

ProLogis, owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities, has announced it has leased 27,500 sqm of warehouse space in Budapest to Unilever. Unilever will occupy a recently completed building at ProLogis Harbor Park, a 132,000-sqm rail-served distribution park located 12 km southwest of downtown Budapest. The firm is expanding its regional operations, and will use the space to serve its network of retail customers throughout Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. ProLogis currently owns and manages five parks in the greater Budapest area comprising more than 301,000 sqm and one park near the Austria-Slovakia border, ProLogis Park Hegyeshalom, of more than 22,900 sqm.

Dawnay, Day Sirius Limited has acquired two freehold business parks located in Offenbach and North Berlin for a combined total of EUR 37 million, to be satisfied by cash from existing resources.The company believes both acquisitions will be earnings enhancing, and represent an opportunity to increase NAV capital growth through further development and transformation of the sites. Both sites are well suited for rebranding, development and upgrading into flexible workspaces to be leased predominantly to small and medium sized enterprises.