The companies have already built two apartment buildings there and are working on a third, with construction of a fourth building due to begin in July.
“The investment that will begin in 2017 will amount to more than EUR100 million and will be made in several phases of 200 to 300 apartments each,” says Favi Stelian, managing director of the developers.
One phase takes about a year, so in five to six years City Point will become a real complex, housing more than 3,000 people, he added.
The reason behind the decision to increase the investment in City Point is the greater demand for homes in the past year fueled by the loan interest cut and an improvement of Romania’s economy.
The first City Point apartment building was completed last September and the second building will be delivered in July. Out of the 95 apartments in the two buildings, 87 have already been sold and Stelian says the third building now under construction will have 47 apartments, 30% of which sold. Construction work on the fourth building is due to begin in July and completed in early 2017. The investments in the four buildings amount to about EUR15 million.
About 30% of the City Point apartments are paid in cash, while the rest via mortgage loans. The average sale price is EUR1,400 to EUR1,500 per square meter of net area.
Apartment prices will go up on the entire market. They will not reach the 2007-2008 levels, but will see a healthy growth of 3% to 5% a year. The more important thing is that the residential market is different from 2007-2008 when funds would come and buy 200 to 500 apartments. Those who buy today are usually end customers, who also make up 80% of those who bought apartments in City Point, Stelian says.
The builder of City Point is Israeli-held Danya Cebus, which also built AFI Palace Cotroceni mall in Bucharest. The 12-hectare plot on which City Point is being developed was bought from Industrialexport at the end of 2007, during the boom days of the local real estate market.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)