Christian Scherf, chief investment officer at Austrian fund CA Immo, which owns two office buildings in Bucharest, says the group is interested in projects in several Romanian cities, while the retail segment remains a priority at present.
CA Immo International AG has several investment projects running right now, in Sibiu, Timisoara and Arad, where it plans to develop a retail park.
"In Arad we will build a 15,000 square metre sales area with a 450 capacity car park. We have been provided with the Area Development Plan now and are about to receive our construction permit. The buildings will be possible to erect in 12 to 15 months after we receive the permit," stated Christian Scherf, chief investment officer of CA Immo International AG, in charge of SEE countries.
Scherf believes the Arad project is at the same stage as the one in Sibiu, where CA Immo International AG announced it would build a shopping complex on a 220,000 square metre plot of land, in the northern part of the city.
"It will probably take a few months before we get the construction permit in Sibiu and then development on the shopping complex will start," said Scherf, who would not reveal the names of any potential tenants.
Besides the investment projects outside Bucharest, the Austrian investment fund also owns the Bucharest Business Park and Opera Center in the capital city, some 50,000 square metres in total.
CA Immo does not have a set investment budget for Romania. According to Scherf, the company is constantly on the lookout for opportunities and will increase the overall value of investments in Romania as opportunities arise.
Scherf adds that the company's strategy on investments has not changed, even though it bought office space projects to begin with, while the latest projects in Sibiu and Arad are retail projects.
"The office space market in Romania is not as developed as in Germany or Austria.
"Companies still prefer to have their own offices here. We have functional projects in Bucharest, in office buildings, which we will not expand any more in this respect for the time being. We are, however, considering new investment possibilities in Bucharest, but this depends on the market's trend," Scherf explained.
CA Immo's chief investment officer believes property prices are high in Romania compared to incomes.
The Austrians do not believe real estate prices will continue to increase indefinitely.
According to Scherf something that makes CA Immo different from other retail park developers is the long-term strategy for its shopping complex projects.
"Ours are long-term investments. We do not just enter a country, build and then sell the property.
"We have conservative shareholders.
"We want investments that will ensure stable, long-term revenues," Christian Scherf stated.
CA Immo International
One of the first major players that entered the Romanian market
Portfolio comprises office space in Bucharest and in development in Timisoara, as well as retail projects in Sibiu (80,150 sqm) and Arad (15,000 sqm of available space)
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