A Bucharest Manhattan is developing in the Capital: the Exhibition Area - the most powerful magnet for renowned investors

The investment capital of some of the most influential Romanian businessmen transforms the Expoziției area into a premium real estate pole, with homes and offices at international standards. The process of transforming into a real „Manhattan” of Bucharest translates into investments of billions of euros and tens of thousands of people who will work and live in this emerging location on the local real estate market.

The real estate development activity is led by well-known businessmen, who have felt in advance the high profit potential of the area, in which in the last decades only a few key transactions have been registered on the office market. Accessibility, the proximity to the largest park in Romania and the proximity to the new metro line that would connect the city center with Otopeni, are some of the strongest arguments for the sustainable growth of the area.

Local entrepreneurs interested in apartments and offices

Several business people are already working on offices and homes or are planning massive development projects for the coming years. About 156,000 square meters of Class A office space and about 1,500 new homes would be delivered to the Expoziției area by the end of next year, according to an analysis by real estate consultants ESOP Consulting. The statistics refer to projects that have already received building permits.

In Expoziției-Domenii area, Impact Developer & Contractor, the local real estate developer controlled by Gheorghe Iaciu, works at the Luxuria premium residential complex. The first 232 apartments were completed in the spring of this year, with the next phase scheduled for delivery in December 2020. Currently, the complex has turnkey units, with immediate relocation. Out of the desire to create a pleasant living environment, the Impact developer has allocated almost 1 hectare for green spaces and a 2500 sq m park, with themed gardens, which provide the necessary natural environment for the new community.

The stake for investors in the residential sector is significant considering that more than 20,000 corporate people would work in the Expoziției area. Housing development is on an accelerated trend, in line with investment progress and in the area of ​​offices. The consultants point out that in the development pole of the Expoziției there are approximately 11-13 employees near each newly completed apartment.

In the segment of office buildings, George Copos is among the first Romanian investors to complete an important project. It is about Ana Tower, a tower with 25 floors and an area of ​​41,000 square meters. In addition to the projects already authorized, in the next decade, here could be developed offices with a total leasable area of ​​100,000 sqm of offices and over 1,000 to 1,500 homes.

The increase of office deliveries in the Expoziției area has had a constant rhythm in the last 3 years, having more and more the profile of a competitive office hub. In 2019, 16% of the activity of renting office space was registered in the Expoziției area, occupying the second place in terms of demand after the west of the city.

For example, Ubisoft Bucharest has signed a record transaction for the pre-lease of 30,000 sq m in J8 Office Park, the office complex in the Jiu Expoziției area developed by the Portland Trust. The ING group also relocated its offices to Expo Business Park. The area allocated to ING offices is 20,000 sq m, also near the Free Presei Square.

The growth of the office industry naturally generates additional interest for the hotel segment, especially for business travel. In this context, the local investor Niro Investment Group started a project of 60 million euros for a luxury hotel with 225 rooms. At 85 meters, the hotel would be the tallest in Bucharest, with a total leasable area of ​​30,000 square meters.

Massive multifunctional projects

Local entrepreneurs are also increasingly interested in mixed-use projects, where apartments and office buildings can be integrated, for example. Thus, people could gain valuable time to spend with family or other soul activities.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania together with a private company are planning a big project in Romexpo area. 

The large-scale complex to be built is multifunctional and will include homes, malls, offices, hotels, markets, Expoziției spaces, museums and public gardens. The commercial and residential shopping center will have a park, a museum dedicated to Brâncuşi and a George Enescu concert hall. More than 30,000 jobs and 12,000 parking spaces will be created.

Also near the Piața Presei Square, billionaire Ion Țiriac is analyzing the investment in a mixed project with apartments, a mall, a hotel. The complex would be developed on a 6.9-hectare site near the center of Romexpo.

The Romanian developer Forte Partners is also heading to the Expoziției with a mixed project of offices and homes. According to the documentation sent to the authorities, 20-storey towers would be built on an area of ​​over 9,000 square meters.

From the perspective of transport infrastructure, the Expoziției area is covered by the public transport network to which is added an easy access by car from the center and the northern area.

The project of a new metro line that has the potential to transform the entire area around the Romexpo complex is in the preparation phase of the construction works. In the coming years, the new metro line could represent a strategic point of attraction for the Expoziției area and future real estate development to the north of the Capital.

The first apartments delivered in the new Manhattan

In the context of accelerated development, the Expoziției Area is a point of interest, both for housing and for investment. Slowly but surely, Bucharest is a metropolis in the true sense of the word, and will have an area of ​​skyscrapers, like New York, where Manhattan, the area with skyscrapers, concentrates business centers, cultural centers and natural recreation space.

A resemblance to the New York neighborhood is the very functionality of the buildings. Consequently, the Expoziției will be a mix between business centers, residential complexes and cultural centers, which will also generate tourist interest.

In May, Luxuria completed the first phase of the project, being the first residential complex that delivers new, premium apartments in the Expoziției – Domenii area, in 2020. Those interested in a life in the new center of Bucharest have the opportunity to choose between apartments available, with immediate delivery: studios, 2, 3, 4 or 5 room apartments.

Luxuria aims to create a safe living context, in which the quality of construction and life favors an elitist lifestyle, which develops the art of living in style in Bucharest.

Evolution of prices in the northern area

In terms of prices for the main real estate assets in the Expoziției area, the evolution depends on the pace of supply and demand for office buildings and large premium residential complexes. The average prices demanded for the dwellings in the area that includes the area between Aviației and Băneasa, in the north of Bucharest, vary between 1,700 euros and 1,920 euros per square meter.

In the case of offices, the monthly rental costs for the spaces in Presei Libere – Jiului Square vary between 15 and 17 euro / sqm. 14 hotels with over 2,000 rooms would be delivered on the hotel market, including one in the Expoziției area. However, the pace of development could be slowed down due to the negative effects of the medical crisis on the hospitality industry. Thus, the prices registered in the Expoziției area would continue their advance amid the launch of new real estate projects and the completion of other profile investments in this part of the city.