Esplanada and Dâmboviţa Center, two plots to be left undeveloped for many years

Dâmboviţa Center and Esplanada projects were due to be developed by two of the most powerful billionaires in the region, Israeli-born Mordechay Zisser and Hungarian-born Sandor Demjan, who control Plaza Centers and TriGranit firms.
The two teamed up with Romania's Government and Bucharest City Hall to develop these projects, but the hurdles generated by the real estate crisis and by these very partnerships halted these investments.
So far, the biggest real estate projects carried out in Romania have entailed investments of around 300m euros. Dâmboviţa Center and Esplanada had three-to five times higher scheduled investments.
Why will these projects not be carried out in the following years? Besides funding problems, another major issue is the still low demand for spaces in shopping centres and office buildings.
"Still, in the next 10 years I'm confident there will be major projects in Bucharest that should occupy land plots with an exceptional location such as those of Esplanada or Dâmboviţa. (...)," says Andrei Văcaru, a retail consultant with Jones Lang LaSalle.