After a two year hiatus, real estate developer Adama has announced starting a second phase of development on the Edenia Titan and Evocasa Optima residential projects in Bucharest's east side. The new phase of construction will add 210 new apartments, 126 to Edenia Titan and 84 to the Evocasa Optima housing complex. The new Edenia Titan development is scheduled for completion in fall 2013. The general contractor for work on both projects is construction company BOG'ART.

The new developments have a tinge of austerity, offering more modest accommodation than in the heady days of pre-crisis Bucharest real estate. More studios and one bedroom apartments will be built, price per square meter will be lower (EUR 900 per sqm) and the larger four room apartments originally planned have been scrapped. “The share of smaller units is about 20 percent higher than in the first phase,” said Adama Executive Board member Andreas Holler. Communal space has also been reduced by about 10 percent.

All the 226 properties in the existing two buildings of the Edenia Titan complex, completed in 2009, have already been sold. However, over at Evocas Otptima (in picture), where the 83 apartments were finished in 2010, the occupancy rate is currently at 82 percent. Expectations for sales during the new phase of development are also more subdued than in Bucharest's real estate boom years. “The moderate scenario suggests sales of one apartment per month on average up until the completion of the new phase, and 3-4 apartments per month after completion,” said Holler, but he was keen to point out this is a pessimistic projection and actual sales could be higher.

Developer Adama operates in Romania, Moldova, the Ukraine and Turkey and has so far built 1,500 apartments and sold 1,000, as well as developing retail and office space. The company has led projects in Bucharest, Ploesti, Brasov, Cluj and Iasi. In 2011, Austrian real estate firm Immofinanz Group bought Adama and Romania ranks third in the group's portfolio, with a 9.9 percent share of, after Austria (37.5 percent) and Russia (16 percent).

editor@romania-insider.com

photo source: adama.ro