The five largest industrial space rental deals totaled almost 74,000 square meters in the first half and were signed in the major cities of the country such as Timisoara, Ploiesti and Brasov.
About 113,000 square meters of industrial and logistics space were subject to deals in the first half, 85,000 square meters of which new demand and the rest renegotiations or contract renewals, ZF has calculated based on real estate consultant JLL data.
The biggest transaction in the first half was the rental of 28,000 square meters by US-held P&G in the Dunca logistics center in Timisoara, developed by freight transportation company Dunca of the Dunca family.
Second most important deals were the rental by automotive component manufacturers Preh and Federal Mogul of 13,000 square meters each in Industrial Park Brasov of the ICCO Group and WDP Ploiesti of Belgian-held WDP.
Another company to rent 13,000 square meters, this time in West Park Ploiesti industrial park, was Snamprogetti Romania, part of the Saipem Group whose main shareholder is Italy’s oil giant Eni.
Romania has a stock of about 2 million square meters of industrial and logistics pace, half of which in Bucharest. While last year 100,000 square meters of new industrial space were delivered, this year 86,000 square meters have already been completed in the first half alone.
The new space delivered in the first half includes the 52,000 square meters in Timisoara Airport Park, the 20,000 square meter expansion of the Olympian park in the same city, the 10,000 square meter expansion of the Transilvania Logistic Park in Cluj and a new 4,000 square meter development in CTPark Turda, according to JLL data.
Another 160,000 square meters are expected to be delivered in logistics centers Ploiesti West Park and WDP Ploiesti and in the new plant of the automotive component manufacturer Yazaki in Braila by yearend.
Bucharest should see partial delivery of only two new projects by the end of 2015: the expansion of the P3 Logistic Park in Chiajna, a logistics center P3 bought from Austria’s CA Immo last year, and the new Log Center Park in Mogosoaia, developed by Austria’s Immofinanz.
Vacancy rate for industrial space in Romania currently stands at 10% to 12.5%, while in Bucharest it is less than 5%. Prime rents stand at about EUR3.5 to EUR4 per square meter per month.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)