Belgians raise office building in Pipera with their own funds

Atenor Group real estate developer, listed on Euronext, in October started construction works for an office building with an 180,000 square metre lettable area on Dimitrie Pompei boulevard of Bucharest, going against the tide, taking into account that no investments have been started in the area for over two years, amid the high vacancy rate of existing buildings.

The Belgians in 2008 bought a 1.5 hectare plot of land in Pipera, where they plan to develop a three-building business park called Hermes Business Campus, but are starting works only on the first building, which is due to be finalised in 2012.

The Belgians say they do not need banking funding to raise the first building as they carried out a 50m-euro bond issue in early 2010 that was oversubscribed to 75m euros.

"Our advantage is that the plot is right near the underground station. (...)," said Stephan Sonneville, the company's CEO and a minority shareholder with a 5% stake, according to bourse data.

The company's representatives did not specify the value of investments in the first office building as the contract with the general contractor has not been signed, yet.