Bucharest’s malls are now concentrated in the west (Drumul Taberei, Militari) and south side of the city (Rahova, Berceni, Vitan), so that supply meets or even exceeds demand there.
Six projects on hold for which developers paid about EUR350 million to buy the necessary land alone during the boom years could be built over the next two or three years in the north (Floreasca, Bucurestii Noi) and east (Titan, Pantelimon, Colentina) of the city, where shopping center supply is insufficient.
Each of the developers of the malls made preparations this year to start projects that might materialize in the coming years but the main obstacle remains getting financing from banks.
Park Lake Plaza (Titan – Spartac)
The mall in Bucharest that is closest to completion is ParkLake Plaza, located in Titan, whose construction work started this fall and should be finished by the end of 2013.
The project developed by Irish-held Caelum Development will have a 67,000 square meter lettable area. Half of the project has already been rented out to tenants like Cora and Cinema City. The rental broker is Cushman & Wakefield.
The project is being developed on the land that was formerly used by the Spartac sports complex acquired for about EUR70 million five years ago. The total investment is put at EUR250 million. Getting funds from the bank seems to be the last hurdle for this project.
Mega Mall (Pantelimon – Electroaparataj)
Austrian-held Real 4 You has secured two major tenants for the Mega Mall project it intends to develop in Pantelimon, on the site of Electroaparataj plant. One of the two is French-held retailer Carrefour.
The Austrian company has owned this site for several years. It took down the industrial buildings on it and secured the zoning permit to build the mall near the National Arena stadium.
The company works with DTZ Echinox and Colliers as rental brokers. The lettable area of the project is 70,000 square meters and the land bought from NCH cost about EUR60 million.
Victoria City (Bucurestii Noi – Textila Dacia)
Canadian-owned Benevo and CD Capital, which paid EUR40 million for the 5.2 hectare site of former Textila Dacia plant several years ago, partnered with South-African investment fund NEPI, which bought 50% of the business.
The partnership has not been finalized yet, as the two parties had initially set December 20 for approval of the development plan, after which the deal should have been completed. A NEPI release says that the shareholders could not finish the development plan on time so as to be able to submit it to the general meeting of shareholders on December 20 and postponed the meeting for February 28, 2012.
NEPI has access to financing on international markets, as it is listed in Johannesburg, London and Bucharest, as well as to bank loans, so that the 56,000 square meter project might be started next year.
Colentina Mall (Helitube)
Belgian company BelRom, the owner of the former Helitube plant site in Colentina, signed a deal with French group Auchan, which is supposed to operate a hypermarket in the shopping center to be built on that plot.
BelRom is now looking to stabilize the shareholder structure of the company that owns the land because some of the investors plan to drop the project, while Steven Van Den Bossche, one of the shareholders of the Electroputere project in Craiova inaugurated this year wants to increase his stake in the business.
The company has a rapid and often surprising way of developing its shopping centers, with the most recent example being the project in Craiova, completed within twelve months. The financing of the project in Colentina is also an issue to consider, as the price paid for the land was high: EUR65 million.
Promenada Shopping Center (Floreasca)
Austrian-held Raiffeisen Evolution could start work on the Promenada mall in the Aurel Vlaicu area, especially now that they sold the Sky Tower office tower under construction to the Raiffeisen bank in Vienna, and thus got tens of millions of euros.
The project was frozen in 2008 or 2009, but after the number of office buildings (Lakeview, Nusco Tower, Floreasca Business Park) in the area rose and with the Pipera overpass nearing completion, the interest in this mall has risen lately.
In addition, the Austrian investor may want to reduce the negative impact on the Sky Tower building in which the local Raiffeisen subsidiary will move its offices, so that work on the two projects could be done at the same time.
The Promenada Mall should have a lettable area of about 40,000 square meters.
AFI Palace (Laromet – Bucurestii Noi)
Israeli company AFI Europe, which already owns the AFI Palace Cotroceni in Bucharest could start work on a mall on the former site of the Laromet plant in the northern part of the city, which it bought for over EUR70 million several years ago.
Real hypermarket network, which also has a store in AFI Cotroceni, has recently announced it struck a deal with the Israeli investors to open a store in the mall on the Laromet site.
Competition in the northwestern part of the city where the Colosseum and Victoria City projects are, as well, is fierce, and each developer wants to materialize the plans they had when they paid tens of millions of euros to buy the land.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)