Some 37,000 sqm of office space were leased last year outside the capital, a volume which was up by 60 percent y-o-y and seven times more than in 2012, said company representatives.

Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara and Iasi were the most attractive alternatives to Bucharest, these also being the cities with the largest stocks of office space outside the capital. Tenants are also starting to look at cities like Craiova, Targoviste and Targu-Mures.

“Esop brokered the transaction of some 4,000 sqm office space which represented about 10 percent of the volume which was leased in 2014,” said Alexandru Petrescu, managing partner ESOP Consulting l CORFAC International.

The total leasing activity registered was 306,273 sq. m in Bucharest, 21,090 sq. m in Cluj-Napoca, 11,452 sq. m in Timisoara, 4,100 sq. m in Iasi and 735 sq. m in Ploiesti, according to Esop.

Compared to 2013 when demand for office space was fuelled mostly by IT&C companies, the previous year and the beginning of 2015 also saw interest from companies active in energy, automotive and industrial production in addition to IT&C.

Companies which leased office space outside Bucharest last year include Recall, Bombardier, E On, EBS Romania, HP, Accesa and Genpact in Cluj-Napoca, ZTE, Microsoft, Linde Gaz, Accenture and Continental in Timisoara, OSF and GfK in Iasi and Webhelp in Ploiesti. (source: business-review.eu)