"The year 2019 was a better year than the previous one, mainly due to the demand for offices that folded on the opportunities offered by the market and kept up with the record deliveries of new buildings.
Transactions with new premises - rent, pre-lease or extension - have crossed the threshold of 300,000 square meters, which is about 11% more than in 2018, above the general market pace. Also, there were pre-leases of large areas of over 10,000 sqm that exceeded 80,000 sqm and 25% of the total transactions with new spaces and the pace of expansion of service operators for corporates was high", says Alexandru Petrescu, Managing Partner at ESOP Consulting l CORFAC International.
Corporate services are developing and adding value to new office buildings
The record deliveries of office buildings also resulted in an increase in the market for corporate services. As a trend, in the last quarter of 2019, we noticed a series of transactions of the big service operators in the buildings delivered in 2019 or to be delivered in 2020.
One such example is the series of transactions carried out by World Class, the largest operator of sports halls in Romania, which extends into three major projects in Bucharest, through ESOP Consulting.
World Class pre-rented spaces in the last quarter of 2019 and plans to open new health clubs in Oregon Park, on an area of 1,305 sqm, Sema Park - on an area of 1,346 sqm and on Campus 6 - on an area of 1,232 sqm.
During the year 2019, the operators in the food service area Stradale and Carrefour also made transaction series, in several new office buildings.
The biggest transaction of 2019, from the point of view of the rented or pre-rented area by a company in an office building, was made in the last quarter: the reservation of a 28,000 sqm space, by Ubisoft, in the J8 building, from the Bucharest Noi area.
"We estimate that in 2020 the upward trend of the office market will continue, and the companies will choose taking into account the quality of the spaces, the proximity of the subway, the amenities, facilities and services offered by the new projects for the comfort of the employees", says Alexandru Petrescu, Managing Partner at ESOP Consulting l CORFAC International. (source: Esop)
