275,000 sqm planned outside Bucharest

Iasi and Cluj-Napoca will benefit from the highest new supply of office spaces in the coming years: 164,000 and 75,000 sqm respectively, while projects with total GLAs of 16,000 and 21,000 sqm are expected in Timisoara and Brasov.

Cluj-Napoca remains the largest regional office hub, with a stock of 340,000 sqm at the end of 2022, followed by Timisoara (293,000 sqm), Iasi (213,000 sqm) and Brasov (152,000 sqm). As such, the stock of modern office spaces in these cities reached almost 1 mln sqm, representing less than a third of the corresponding total in Bucharest.

”The major regional cities continue to be a point of attraction for the companies wishing to further expand their presence in Romania, with developers therefore aligning their investment plans based on this continuous demand. The main challenge present in the four cities pertains to the workforce availability, considering the very low unemployment rates. However, those cities are all strong university centres with more than 193,000 registered students, thus having the capacity to provide candidates for the positions sought after by companies”, said Vlad Saftoiu, Head of Research Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The main driver of the leasing activity has once again been the IT&C sector, which had a share of more than 70 pct of the total take-up in 2022, a total take-up of 72,000 sqm, which reflects a 20 pct increase compared with 2021.

Cluj-Napoca and Brasov have the lowest vacancy rates (6 pct and 7 pct respectively), while 10 pct of the Timisoara office stock is unoccupied.

The prime headline rents have seen a marginal increase, ranging between EUR 11-13.5 sqm/month in Brasov, while also reaching a level of EUR 15-16 sqm/month in Cluj-Napoca and Iasi.

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