Developers completed 83,000 sqm of new office projects in Romania’s major regional cities (Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi, and Brasov) in 2023, and the modern office stock thus exceeded the 1 million sqm threshold, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox Office Market Regional Cities report. The figure represents around 30% of the corresponding total in Bucharest.

Cluj-Napoca remained the largest regional office hub outside Bucharest, but Iasi, the only city that benefited from the delivery of office projects throughout 2023, overtook Timisoara and climbed to the second position.

The stock of modern office spaces in the four regional cities reached 1.082 million sqm, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox said.

Cluj-Napoca continues to be the largest regional office hub, with 340,400 sqm of such spaces at the end of 2023 (31.5% of the total), followed by Iasi, where the stock expanded after the delivery of Palas Campus (60,000 sqm) and the first phase of Silk District (23,000 sqm) to 296,200 sqm (27.4% of the total). Next, in Timisoara, the stock stood at 293,500 sqm (27.1%), and in Brasov, at 152,200 sqm (14%).

According to the same source, the office pipeline in the four analyzed cities is very low compared with the deliveries registered in 2023, as only two projects with a total area of 26,000 sqm may be completed by the end of 2024/beginning of 2025, namely Coresi Business Campus U1 in Brasov and Paltim in Timisoara.

However, developers announced plans to start the construction of a further 170,000 sqm of new office spaces in the major regional cities in the next 5 years, out of which 75,000 sqm in Cluj-Napoca, 81,000 sqm in Iasi, and 10,000 sqm in Brasov.

Among the main office projects under construction or in different planning stages, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox mentioned Silk District phase II developed by Prime Kapital – MAS RE in Iasi, the second phase of AFI Park in Brasov (AFI Europe), and NHood’s plans to add a new building within the Coresi Business Campus in Brasov.

The most important projects expected in Cluj-Napoca relate to the Prime Kapital – MAS RE and Iulius Group mixed-use developments, scheduled to be built on the former Cesarom and Carbochim industrial platforms.

Vlad Saftoiu, Head of Research Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, said: “The major regional centers boast a combined enrollment of around 190,000 students (more than in Bucharest) and a workforce of approximately 550,000 employees (representing more than 50% of the level recorded in Bucharest), while the office stock in these cities is less than a third of the corresponding total from the capital city. Therefore, if we adjust these figures to the economic context of the analyzed cities, we believe that Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara, and Brasov have the capacity to attract new companies that will generate demand for office spaces, and we estimate that another about 400,000 sqm of new projects could be absorbed by the cities in question in the long term.”

In terms of leasing activity, Cluj-Napoca has the lowest vacancy rate (6.2%) outside Bucharest, while 10.7% and 11.8% of the Timisoara and Brasov office stocks are unoccupied. Moreover, a higher vacancy rate of 20.4% is recorded in Iasi, mainly in B-class buildings.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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