Shopping centers, the most extensive retail format in Romania, accounts for 61% of modern retail stock.
“Developers continue to focus on secondary and tertiary cities, a trend apparent since last year, when the 6,000 sqm expansion of Veranda Mall was the sole project delivered in Bucharest in the first half of 2018. Fierce competition among retail centers in Bucharest encourage developers to invest in regional cities, developing smaller projects but with the possibility of expansion. However, there is still room for new retail projects in Bucharest,”s aid Carmen Ravon, Head of Advisory and Transaction Retail, CBRE Romania.
Approximately 130,600 sqm are expected to be delivered by the end of this year, of which 97% will be outside Bucharest and 37% of projects are retail centers, while the remainder are retail parks of various sizes.
Modern retail stock delivered in the first half included 67,000 sqm from the expansion of Iulius Town in Timisoara. Other new deliveries included expansions of well-performing retail centers and a new retail park in Drobeta Turnu Severin.
Prime rents have remained stable at EUR80/sqm/month in retail centers, EUR55/sqm/month in street locations and EUR8-15/sqm/month in retail parks.
Retail density (sqm per 1,000 inhabitants) stood at 548 in Bucharest at the end of the first half, compared with 190 countrywide. In regional cities, retail density was 488 in Cluj-Napoca, 420 in Iasi, 603 in Timisoara and 582 in Constanta, while Oradea was the regional city with the highest retail density, of 657 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants.