According to Petrescu, this year could be the first year of giving up low quality office spaces in Bucharest and, in the next three-four years, there will be less and less company headquarters in old apartment blocks and in buildings unprotected against earthquakes and fire.
“In 2016, several factors with major influence over the office market will conjoin and all the segments of the office market in Bucharest will face a migration on the backdrop of office supply increase: big tenants will consolidate their headquarters in the newest and the best-positioned office buildings in the central-northern and central-western zones (…). Their places will be taken, in central, smaller buildings built in the last ten years, by average-sized companies in expansion or in search of image, which will lease office spaces of 500-2,000 sqm,” Petrescu stated.
The migration of companies with less than 50 employees from apartment blocks or villas will be triggered by higher property taxes which might lead to higher lease prices, as well as by harsher laws regarding seismic risks and fire safety norms.
According to ESOP, three important pre-leases are announced for 2016: two large players in the banking sector and one in the IT sector are looking for solutions for spaces exceeding 15,000 sqm to consolidate their offices.