“Right before the lockdown we signed the contract for two plots of land and were aware of the situation. We are not doing land banking, though. We are now in the zoning plan phase in Craiova, it is harder to work with the authorities at this time but there are no major differences in their activity. Other projects are well under way in Bacau, where we have a strong presence, we have some locations secured and are well represented,” Muler Onofrei told ZF.
Element Industrial, held by Muler Onofrei and Ionut Dumitrescu, is currently developing industrial parks ELI2 and ELI3 in the hub by the DN7 (National Road 7) at the intersection with the planned A0 beltway around Bucharest.
“We are now finalizing the fourth 20,000 square meter building in ELI Park 1 in Chitila, and rental is going well. We completed the third building where we have two tenants, Dentotal and Paste Baneasa. We’re going ahead in Chitila. We will complete work on the park at the end of May.”
The closing of malls and restrictions of movement in cities have changed the way people shop and many customers shifted focus to online sales. This is why retailers, too, relied more heavily on online sales and to be able to do that they need logistics warehouses.
“Structurally, we are seeing a transition from retail to online. We had a talk with a store in a mall in Bucharest that was looking to get a dark store (click-and-collect place or order fulfilment center i.e.), to shift the operations in the store to storage and online. It’s a good example, but not a significant trend yet, though constant and growing – the new reality.”
The logistics developer plans to expand to 14 cities in Romania with warehouses and industrial space. New developments are planned for Timisoara, Targoviste and Craiova along with ten other parks considered for which the company is trying to find suitable land.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)