Business Review

German developer ECE Projektmanagement is planning a ten-unit mall chain in Romania, with an expected EUR 100 million investment per unit, according to Radu Marica, general manager of ECE Projektmanagement Romania, quoted by a newswire. The commercial centers could cover between 40,000 sqm and 70,000 sqm.
The company is currently in negotiations to secure sites of three to five hectares in several cities around the country.

EMCT's Sun Plaza mall has received up to 800 demands for units and has already rented 78 percent of the retail space, according to the developer. The project, launched in October last year is now in the first stage of development.
"Southern Bucharest is the only area where construction projects can still be developed. Five residential compounds will be built in the area and several office buildings. We follow the market so we are also developing an office building of 10,000 sqm in built area," said Michael Richard, general director at EMCT. He added that the major problem the company is confronting is the lack of specialized work force on the Romanian construction market. "But from September things started to improve," according to Richard.

Polish developer Echo Investment will enter the Romanian market through a EUR 100 million commercial center development in Brasov, the developer recently announced. Echo Investment Project 1, the local subsidiary of the Polish company, has recently purchased a four-hectare plot in Brasov. Echo intends to develop a shopping and entertainment center on the purchased land with a total area exceeding 100,000 sqm. Construction works are scheduled to start in 2008, with a 2010 completion date.

Vinci Energies, the local subsidiary of French group Vinci, has acquired 51 percent of local company Trustul de Instalatii si Automatizari Bucuresti (TIAB) following a series of acquisitions and a capital increase.

Ramada Plaza Bucharest Convention Center, part of the development plans of the Wyndham Hotel Group, will open by the end of this year, the company has announced. The hotel is the result of refurbishing former Turist Hotel located in northern Bucharest, following an investment of EUR 12 million made by Parc Hotels SA.

Israeli-owned developer EuroHabitat has chosen Danya Cebus as the new construction company for its Planorama development in Bucharest. Danya Cebus, part of Africa Israel real estate group, is replacing Yapitek.
In May this year law firm Urban si Asociatii announced Yapitek's bankruptcy, with EUR 7.5 million of debt and EUR 47.6 million of signed contracts. At the time, Yapitek said its debts were RON 7.5 million, not EUR 7.5 million.

Local company MB Dezvoltare will invest EUR 20 million in building 200 apartments near the Mogosoaia area, part of the residential project Lacul cu Nuferi, the firm's first residential project.

"A project for the Romanian middle class" - it sounds good as promotion for a new residential compound but it is not quite true. The reality is middle-income earners can't afford new apartments yet. The new properties are still limited in number, compared to the market need, which keeps old apartments the main option for buyers. Timid developments in the south, south-east and at the outskirts of the city bring slightly lower prices, but the market is still waiting for prices below the EUR 1,000 per sqm threshold.

Greek- and British-owned developer Diamond Development will build 488 apartments and two office buildings in the Lacul Tei area of Bucharest with an estimated investment of EUR 400 million.

Construction works for the new northern Bucharest bypass should start in a month, announced Ludovic Orban, the minister of transportation.
The road should be completed in two years and will connect the Bucharest-Pitesti highway to the Bucharest-Constanta highway.