The agreement for the office space was signed in September 2019 after a leasing process led by Sandra Apachitei, Advisor within Advisory & Transaction Services, Office Occupier, CBRE Romania.
Bank of China opened a branch in Romania on December 16, choosing for its headquarter City Gate. The 47,600 sq m office tower is owned by GTC in the north of Bucharest.
The opening of the new unit marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Romania and China, setting up a branch in Romania being the natural result of these positive evolutions. The branch's operations in Bucharest are led by Guo Lixin.
“The entrance of a new company on the Romanian market, that leases from the beginning an important office surface, represents a very good sign both for the real estate market and for the business environment. In Bucharest, on the office space market, in the third quarter, companies leased over 84,000 sqm, with an increase of 15% compared to the same period last year”, stated Tudor Ionescu, Head of Advisory & Transaction Services, Office, CBRE Romania.
In the first nine months of 2019, the highest demand for office space rentals came from companies in the Computers & Hi-Tech sector (47% of the total leasing activity), which leased spaces for a total of 13,500 employees and from the financial sector (16% of the total leasing activity), which leased offices for 4,700 employees. As for the most dynamic leasing activity areas, they were the western part of Bucharest (with 31% of the leased volume) followed by the central area (with 21%), then by the northern part and Pipera (with 19%).
The total stock of modern office space in Bucharest reached about 3.16 million sq m at the end of the first three quarters of 2019, more than half of it being class A office buildings, with an overall vacancy rate of 9.3%, slightly increasing compared to the same period last year.
About 60,000 sq m office spaces were delivered in the third quarter in Bucharest, through two Expo Business Park projects, developed by the Portland Trust in the northern area and The Light, developed by River Development in the western part of Bucharest. Currently, western and northern Bucharest are home to 50% of the total stock of Class A premises, according to CBRE Research data. (source: CBRE)