Immorent Romania, the real estate leasing arm of Austria's Erste group, which is carrying out Smart City real estate project near Baneasa lake in a joint-venture with Rompetrol group, states the 300m-euro project will span a period of more than five or six years, as it had estimated, as a result of the financial crisis fallout.
Straulesti area of northern Bucharest is likely to be the capital city's new business centre in the next five years as several major projects will be operated, with a total value of above 500m euros, such as Petrom City (3 hectares), Smart City (4.4 hectares) or the project developed by Raiffeisen Evolution (11 hectares). Unlike the current business centre of Bucharest, located near Piata Victoriei, Straulesti area will develop from scratch through integrated services, with an own infrastructure.
Smart City mixed project (office buildings, a commercial and housing area) will be located on a land plot of around 4.4 hectares, in the wake of investments worth 300m euros and will have an area of 150,000 built square metres, also including the new headquarters of Rompetrol. The complex will include class A office buildings totalling 50,000 square metres, retail spaces and housing units on an area of 100,000 square metres.
"In July, we'll finalise the project concept and next year we'll start developing Smart City. This project was originally estimated to span a period of 5-6 years, but in the current conditions the development period will be longer. This year, I believe no new projects will be started, but only projects financed since last year will be continued," explains Bogdan Cernescu, CEO of Immorent Romania.
Immorent Romania is present domestically through its leasing unit and the project development unit, Immorent Project, through which it acquired a 4-hectare plot of land in Oradea last year, where it will develop a small, street-mall type, shopping centre.
However, because of the sudden real estate market decline, the company has slowed down its investment and placement pace. "We've frozen our land acquisition process, but we're seeking only good areas (...). We'll certainly see no more land for which owners ask 5,000-7,000 euros per square metre, as these were unjustified prices," Cernescu explains.
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