Romexterra rents building in Cotroceni

MKB Romexterra, a small bank controlled by German Bayern LB group has rented an entire 2,700 square-metre office building in Cotroceni in the central area of Bucharest, in one of the biggest deals on the rental market this year. MKB Romexterra had previously been headquartered in the Millennium Business Center building close to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, but the building was affected by a fire at the end of June, which rendered it unusable, at least for a while. The companies that had been operating there, such as Sanofi Aventis, Transelectrica, World Bank and Bulboaca & Asociatii sought office space in other buildings in the city, thus slightly revitalising a market almost completely frozen since the beginning of the year. "The 17 Elefterie building, developed by Italiana Edifizia, was the biggest available in the Cotroceni area where average rents asked for class A space stand at about 18 euros/square metre per month. The contracts are signed for somewhat lower sums," stated Horatiu Florescu, chairman of real estate advisory firm The Advisers/Knight Frank, the broker of the deal. Under the circumstances, Romexterra should pay approximately half a million euros in rent for the building per year.