Dozens of famous brands are eager to enter the Romanian market, yet the companies that represent them cannot find the necessary spaces, the operators on the real estate market say. And since a brand goes best with a mall, many projects have been devised.
The latest potential investors: a company controlled by the New Century Holdings investment fund and an Israeli investor, Neocity Center.
No one knows whether these projects will materialise or not. What we do know for sure is that the market is free: Bucharest has only one mall, compared to 15 such centres in Budapest.
The severe shortage of quality commercial space could bring massive investments in shopping centres in Bucharest. Therefore, the operators in this field estimate the construction of modern shopping complexes, such as hypermarkets or malls will see investments somewhere in the neighbourhood of $500 million over the next three or four years.
For instance, Bucharest has only one mall at the moment, while Budapest is already a crowded place, due to its more than 15 such shopping complexes. At the same time, the Hungarian Capital registers more than 10 smaller malls, some 20 hypermarkets (compared to only one in Bucharest) and 20 bricolage stores. The demand for space within malls is huge, yet the supply is limited. The investments will focus on this segment over the next period, the companies on the real estate market say.
Shay Mor, general manager of the Neocity Group, which owns the Neocity Tower office building in the Aviatorilor area (home to the Alpha Group financial institution), says there will be two or three more malls built in Bucharest until 2007. This opinion is shared by Tufan Karaca, general manager of Bucharest Vest Center, the company administrating the industrial spaces of the firms controlled by New Century Holdings' investment funds, such as Electrotehnica, UMEB or Vel Pitar.
Karaca says Bucharest needs some 3 or 4 malls over the next 5 or 6 years. From that point on, the investments will be tied to the economic situation.
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