“In the first half of 2012, Bucharest attracted 40% of the country industrial take-up followed closely by Cluj-Napoca with 37%. Other regional cities in which industrial activity was recorded are Iasi, Sibiu, Baia Mare and Ploiesti,” Jones Lang LaSalle said in a report Monday.
This year’s occupier demand in Romania will be driven by cities such as Bucharest, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca and Ploiesti, reads the report.
Industrial space construction was at the lowest level recorded.
“Built-to-suit remains the only option for larger occupiers to secure new space and accommodate the expansion of their operations. The recent partial opening of the A3 highway towards Ploiesti may underpin the logistics development in the north eastern quadrant of Bucharest’s ring road. In addition, the completion of the A2 highway, Bucharest – Constanta, might influence logistics developers to reassess the eastern corridor of Bucharest. Noteworthy, is the speculative development of the Turda Industrial Park, near Cluj Napoca, with a first phase of 20,000 square meters,” the report shows.
Industrial developers such as Alinso, WDP, Portland Trust, Point Park, Graells&Llonch, already own large plots of land and have the ability to develop built-to-suit production/manufacturing facilities within a six to nine month timeframe, according to JLL.
Intermodal transportation is becoming more and more important for carmakers, such as Renault/Dacia and Ford, due to the excellent geographical location of Romania in southeastern Europe and its direct access to the Black Sea, the report shows.
Monthly rents for prime industrial facilities in Bucharest range between EUR3.7 and EUR4 per square meter. Monthly prime industrial rents in top regional cities stand at between EUR3.5 and EUR3.75/sqm.
“A drop was recorded for the maximum rent in both Bucharest and regional cities. In addition to the base rent, service charges (normally amounting to between 15% and 20% of the rent) and the cost for additional handling services are normally charged back to the occupier,” reads the report.