At the end of 2016, the modern retail stock outside Bucharest reached 2.3 million sqm. Shopping centers account for 60%, while retail parks and commercial galleries represent 34% and 7% from the total retail stock.
According to the DTZ Echinox report, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi, Constanta, Craiova and Brasov host over 40% of the total stock outside Bucharest, as 140,000 sqm of modern retail spaces were delivered throughout 2016 in the above-mentioned cities in seven new, renovated or extended projects.
“This concentration of retail projects in big cities, with high purchasing power, is normal, but, at the same time, it shows the development potential of smaller cities. On the backdrop of a general increase of the purchasing power, we notice that certain retailers are starting to focus on cities with 30-40,000 inhabitants, which were previously of no interest to them,” said Bogdan Marcu, retail agency partner DTZ Echinox.
The largest project delivered last year was Shopping City Timisoara – phase II, with a total gross lettable area of 41,000 sqm, followed by Shopping City Piatra Neamt , with 28,000 sqm gross lettable area and Mercur Craiova, project with a rentable area of 15,000 sqm, as well as City Park Mall in Constanta and Coresi Shopping Resort in Brasov, which were extended with 21,000 sqm and 14,000 sqm, respectively.