Real estate development company BelRom, which is controlled by several Belgian investors, has signed a contract to take over a nine-hectare plot of land and its assets held by Helitube in the Colentina district of Bucharest, in a transaction worth around 60 million euros, sources from the real estate market told ZF.
Helitube is controlled by Metaltrade International, held by businessman Corneliu Gavaneanu, who owns, among other things, the Docuri SA and Bazinul Nou SA ports in Galati.
According to information previously published in the press, Gavaneanu is an ex-SIE (Foreign Intelligence Information) officer, who has also worked for the French and Italian embassies. Several business deals involving laminated boards from the Mittal steel plant are conducted through the ports controlled in Galati.
The price of the land amounts to over 650 euros / square metre, and is likely to accommodate a mixed real estate project. The transaction will be finalised in a few months' time.
BelRom representatives did not wish to make any comment on the transaction, and Corneliu Gavaneanu could not be contacted by edition close.
BelRom is one of the most active developers on the retail park segment of the domestic market. The company's first project was developed in Sibiu and was sold at the end of last year for 82.7 million euros to the UK-based North Real Estate Opportunities Fund.
The company has other retail parks, in various stages of development, in Targu-Mures, Bacau and Braila and has announced plans to start similar projects in Deva and Focsani. Company representatives have also recently announced their intention to acquire another five or six plots of land throughout the country, to be used for the development of shopping centres.
The average investment in retail parks outside Bucharest stands at 50 million euros; therefore the Bucharest project is expected to be the biggest investment conducted on the local market. The Belgian businessmen Carl Decoopman, Steven Vandenbosse and Hendrik Danneels control BelRom.
As yet, a shopping centre project has not been announced in the Colentina district, with the leading retailers already present in the area including the Carrefour hypermarket chain and the Metro cash & carry network.
This year has seen the biggest land transactions on the Capital's market, if we are to only consider the takeover of the Laromet and Tricodava industrial platforms, or the land of the former Spartac sporting ground, which were deals worth tens of millions of euros each.
In fact, this year alone, the five biggest Bucharest land deals consist of plots with a cumulated area of 425,000 square metres (42.5 hectares), a total value of over 263 million euros and an average price of 618 euros / square metre.
The shortage of retail and housing space continues to attract the attention of real estate developers. In addition, European regulations, stating that industrial activities must gradually be moved away from cities, are turning land where plants are located into attractive targets for real estate projects.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
