The same companies posted RON5 million total profit, compared with RON87 million losses in 2017. The change came from operators of malls such as AFI Cotroceni, Mega Mall and Park Lake, whose losses shrank. Bucuresti Mall Development & Management, the operator of Bucuresti Mall and Plaza Romania, too, went from RON48 million losses in 2017 to RON6 million profit last year.
“The rent level did not necessarily increase, the occupancy of retail space did, since there weren’t that much retail space delivered. This and the rise in retail sales,” says Doinita Ilie, MRCIS, retail leasing manager with real estate consultant JLL.
Average retail rent in Bucharest is EUR55 to EUR70/square meter, real estate consultants say.
The revenue reported to the Finance Ministry is the revenue the companies make from the rent paid by retailers and from their payments for the services they get, such as security and cleaning services. These figures are not therefore indicative of retailers’ sales.
Modern retail space stock stood at about 1.2 million square meters in Bucharest at the end of last year, according to real estate consultants.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)