"Companies are willing to pay 30% more to get out of Pipera"

Real estate consultants believe that "before things get better, they'll get worse" on the office market of Pipera-Tunari area, which cannot be reached by underground and where car traffic is difficult, while passengers do not even have a sidewalk leading to the underground station of Dimitrie Pompei Boulevard. Major companies such as Coca-Cola, Ford (Global City), Vodafone (North Center) or Metro (Twin Towers Barba Center) have rented offices in the area and they are forced to make microbuses available for their employees to more easily reach the office. Even so, offices of tens of thousand square metres are vacant, and another large project, Swan Office Park, is due for completion by yearend. "From talks with tenants, the office market of Pipera is little likely to pick up. Many companies want to leave the area because of infrastructure. There are a series of pharmaceutical or services tenants in Pipera whose profile does not match the area, but they entered the market when downtown offices had very few spaces available and they had to rent in Pipera. They're now seeking buildings closer to the downtown area," says M`d`lina Cojocaru, head of office department with DTZ Echinox real estate consultancy.

Pipera retains the low-cost advantage, with rents negotiated at 8 to 10 euros/square metre per month. However, " (...) There are companies willing to pay 30% more to move closer to the downtown area," the consultant added.