Supernova opens retail park in Bosnia’s Grude

Austrian privately-owned real estate company Supernova has opened a retail park in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Grude. Supernova has built the shopping centre in partnership with the local company Viro BH.

The project has a coffee shop, a modern children’s playroom and a large Namex market. There are also well-known brands such as dm and Pepco. The shopping center will also house a post office and a pharmacy. Jysk and Sinsey brand stores will start operating at the beginning of next year. In addition to this shopping center, other facilities will be built at this location.

“This is a large plot of 47 thousand square meters, of which about 15 thousand is the center, along with parking and communications around it. Everything else is intended for residential and public buildings. One residential building has started construction, the other will start very soon,” said Mladen Alpeza, director of the Viro BH company.

Bellemonde and Hype Project, pioneer a groundbreaking collaboration in Romania

Bellemonde and Hype Project, the premium architecture and interior design studio founded by architect Victor Grosu, announce a groundbreaking collaboration for the Romanian market. Clients will have the opportunity to acquire ready-made, turnkey homes featuring bespoke designs. Additionally, Hype Project will design the Society Hub, the core of the Bellemonde community, incorporating top-tier amenities that enhance the value of time spent at home with exceptional design.

Located in Pipera, Bellemonde residential development is designed to offer a complete living experience, featuring expansive common areas and a low housing density. The complex harmoniously blends community living with the intimacy and comfort of low-rise residences (maximum P+2). With a variety of options, from individual houses, duplexes, and townhouses to villas with 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom apartments, the project caters to those seeking privacy as well as those who appreciate urban convenience.

„Bellemonde stands as a promise of a contemporary lifestyle, emphasizing the importance of interior design as an essential element of modern living. We have chosen to collaborate with Hype Project, a renowned interior design studio that shares our values regarding living spaces and refinement. Their extensive experience in premium design, implementation know-how, and deep understanding of the needs of our target clientele, were decisive factors in our choice.
We support local design and firmly believe that this collaboration will add significant value for future Bellemonde residents, offering them homes that combine modern aesthetics with exceptional functionality.
This strategic partnership between a local developer and an interior design studio is a unique initiative in Romania, with the potential to redefine quality standards and positively influence the real estate market. Together, we aim to create homes that combine top-tier design with functionality and long-term value.”, explains Victor Terheș, Sales Director of Bellemonde.

The premium architecture and interior design studio Hype Project, founded by Victor Grosu and Adrian Ianculescu, will develop three distinct design concepts. The “ready to move” solutions signed by Hype Project will include three collections: three types of interior designs specially developed for the Bellemonde project, aligned with the project’s philosophy, target clientele, and current international trends in premium living. The option to choose a ready-made design concept is entirely optional. As well, clients can choose to purchase a home built with the standard Bellemonde finishes or a fully furnished residence designed by Hype Project.

Lidl inaugurates two new stores in Romania

Lidl continues its investments locally by opening two new stores in Vladimirescu commune and Râmnicu Vâlcea. The Lidl store in Vladimirescu commune, Arad county, has a sales area of over 1,400 square meters and has 118 parking spaces. The Lidl store inaugurated in Râmnicu Vâlcea municipality, Vâlcea county, has a sales area of over 1,300 square meters and has 96 parking spaces.

With the inauguration of these stores, over 50 new jobs were created.

Lidl currently operates over 12,350 stores and over 225 logistics centers and warehouses in 31 countries. Currently, Lidl has approximately 376,000 employees, of which over 12,000 are in Romania, where the German retailer has over 350 stores and 6 logistics centers.

Kaufland plans a new large store in Domnesti

The German retailer Kaufland plans to open a new store in Domnesti, the second in the locality after the one near Hornbach and the seventh in Ilfov County.

The real estate company Domre SRL, with Italian shareholders, owns several plots of vacant land here with a cumulative area of about 7.8 hectares. For a piece of about 2 hectares of this land, Kaufland has signed a bilateral promise of sale, with a deadline for the completion of the sale-purchase contract in November 2025. The Domre company is now at the stage of technical documentation for obtaining the construction permit for a hypermarket with a developed area of about 5,400 square meters.

If it is realized, this will be the second Kaufland hypermarket in the locality, after Kaufland Domnești West Park was inaugurated in 2022, built on land purchased from Hornbach.

Source: Profit.ro

NEPI Rockcastle to build over 400 apartments next year and analyze the opening of a hotel

NEPI Rockcastle will start construction of two new residential projects next year and analyze the construction of a hotel as part of the expansion of Promenada Mall in Bucharest.

“We are in the process of authorization for the next two projects, one in Brașov, with 300 apartments, and one in Craiova, next to the existing mall, which will have 136 apartments. Next year we will start construction,” said Adrian Boca, Project Manager Development at NEPI Rockcastle.
NEPI Rockcastle is working on the expansion of Promenada Mall, a EUR 282 million investment that will bring an additional 55,400 sqm of rentable space. The retail area will have 32,000 sqm, and for almost half of the area intended for office space, the developer is analyzing the construction of a hotel.

The developer will decide next spring whether or not to choose the option of building a hotel, which could have about 200 rooms.

Source: economica.net

Carrefour plans over 40 Express stores for 2025

Carrefour Romania wants to expand its Express proximity store network by over 40 units next year, after opening 16 stores under this brand in 2024. The Express store format is the one that recorded the highest growth in 2024, according to the company.

For 2025, the retailer aims to accelerate its Express format development plans with over 40 units, located both in pedestrian areas with intense traffic and within important projects in new residential areas.

“The Express store format is the one that recorded the highest growth in 2024. We have sensed this trend since past years and have allocated resources to support consistent double-digit growth. We have implemented a new strategy to test small spaces, which allows us to accelerate the pace of store openings in 2025, with the objective of exceeding the number of stores opened in 2024. The retail market will continue to grow in 2025, and the proximity format will continue to be a strong driver in the future,” said Roxana Cernica, Small Formats Business Unit Director Carrefour Romania.

The retailer will also continue the remodeling process of older stores, including the installation of self-service kiosks.

Source: economica.net

BT Property buys Prima Shops Oradea

BT Property Alternative Investment Fund, managed by BT Asset Management SAI SA, announced the acquisition of the Prima Shops Oradea shopping center from the Oasis group, a local company in the retail property development and management sector owned by businessmen Klaus Reisenauer and Kurt Wagner.

Romania recorded a 131% increase in the volume of real estate transactions in the first half of the year, up to EUR 418 million, the highest advance in Central and Eastern Europe, an evolution that placed it in third position in the region, after Poland and the Czech Republic, ahead of Hungary and Slovakia.

Retail property transactions and industrial projects were the engine of the local market, representing 90% of the total volume, while offices had a share of only 4%, according to data from real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield. The retail sector attracted 47% of the investment volume, while the logistics sector had a share of 43%.

Auchan to open new hypermarket in RIVUS Cluj-Napoca project

Auchan, one of the strongest players on the food retail market, is preparing a new hypermarket concept spanning more than 6,000 sqm for RIVUS Cluj-Napoca, featuring an innovative format, adapted to the central location and the vision of the mixed-use project.

Auchan is a long-standing retail partner of IULIUS, being present in most of the group’s projects: Palas Iași, Iulius Town Timișoara, Iulius Mall Suceava and Iulius Mall Cluj, as well as Family Market Bucium and Family Market Miroslava.

“RIVUS is a regional scale project and our largest investment to this date. We built a wonderful partnership with Auchan as early as 2007, when our collaboration was also based in a project in Cluj-Napoca, namely Iulius Mall. We are delighted that RIVUS project will include an Auchan hypermarket, based on our successful previous collaboration and the partner’s capacity to develop customized concepts, in line with the values and requirements of our projects, as was the case for Palas Iași back in 2012, where they opened the first Auchan City format in Romania, with excellent performances. The Auchan hypermarket in RIVUS will have a new format, tailored to the premium concept of the project, for which we are preparing a complete mix, with regional and national premieres not only in the retail segment, but also in terms of the leisure, cultural, entertainment and edutainment offer,” said Oana Diaconescu, Head of Leasing Retail IULIUS.

Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații advises on EUR 29.5 mln credit facility for Unirii View SRL

Unirii View SRL, a Weerts Group company and developer of the Unirii View Tower office building in Bucharest, has secured a EUR 29.5 million credit facility from Banca Comercială Română (BCR).
Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații provided legal assistance to Unirii View SRL in obtaining a financing from Banca Comercială Română (BCR). The credit facility, amounting to EUR 29.5 million, will be used to refinance a previous loan for the development of the Unirii View office tower.

The team of lawyers from Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații was led by Gabriela Anton, Partner (Banking & Finance), together with Partners Alexandra Pereș and Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa (Real Estate), and included Cătălin Georgescu, Managing Associate (Banking & Finance), Paul Butuzar, Associate (Banking & Finance), and Ștefania Șerban, Senior Associate (Real Estate).

Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații’s lawyers assisted Unirii View SRL throughout the financing process, which covers drafting and reviewing the loan documentation, assisting with the legal due diligence by the financing bank, negotiating, signing and drawing the loan, satisfying all conditions precedent and refinancing the previous credit facility.

“We worked closely with the Unirii View SRL team on this financing project for an iconic office building in the centre of Bucharest, benefiting from the support of a multidisciplinary team of lawyers within our firm. We are delighted that this highly significant transaction was successfully completed within the timeframe agreed by the parties, further demonstrating that sustainable real estate projects can earn the trust of major financial institutions such as Banca Comercială Română (BCR)”, said Gabriela Anton, Partner at Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații and head of the firm’s banking and finance projects.

Colliers: Romania leads EU in non-food retail growth

Consumption levels reached an all-time high in 2024, with the retail market showing significant potential for further growth if current trends persist, according to Colliers experts in their analysis of the sector. Eurostat data reveals a 13% year-on-year increase in non-food purchases this year, bringing sales to 60% above the 2018-2019 average. Romania is recording a 58% increase in the volume of non-food retail sales, the highest in the European Union, highlighting the significant growth potential of the local retail market.

Modern shopping centres with a total leasable area of more than 160,000 square metres were built this year, according to preliminary data from Colliers consultants, who point out that the local market still offers significant growth potential. Pitesti was in the spotlight in 2024, attracting almost 45% of the new space added to the national stock, which reached around 4.7 million square metres. This remarkable performance was underpinned by two major projects: the Argeș Mall, developed by Prime Kapital/MAS REI, and M Park Pitești, developed by Mitiska.

The new projects are well received by the market and there continues to be strong tenant interest in store openings. Vacancy rates remain low in the dominant projects, with waiting lists in some of the most popular malls. A preliminary estimate for 2025 is for around 200,000 square metres of new deliveries, including the 62,000 square metre expansion of the Mall of Moldova in Iasi by Prime Kapital/MAS REI. Thus, by the end of 2026, Romania could exceed the threshold of 5 million square metres of retail space, marking an important moment in the market from the point of view of developers and investors.

“The results obtained by various retailers show that Romania is consistently either the best or among the best in the European Union in terms of profit margins. This indicates a low level of competition, which means that there is still room for new players to enter the market. The outlook for bricks-and-mortar retail is encouraging, underpinned by rising consumer spending, falling interest rates, improving consumer confidence and continued growth in tourist arrivals. Stable rents and favourable rental forecasts are helping to maintain the value of the retail market and boost investment activity. The high yields offered by shopping centres are also a key factor that will continue to stimulate investment returns in the coming year”, says Silviu Pop, Director ECE & Romania Research at Colliers.

According to Eurostat data, retail companies in Romania achieved a gross operating margin of approximately 9% in 2022, outperforming countries like the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland. This favourable environment has attracted several international brands to open their first physical stores in Romania in 2024, having previously been present only through multi-brand retailers or online sales. New entrants include Rituals Cosmetics and Kiko Milano in the cosmetics sector, Budmil and Bogner in the fashion sector, as well as Happy Restaurants and Hesburger in the restaurant sector. Additionally, Poland’s largest food retailer specializing in proximity concepts, Żabka, has entered the local market this year with its Froo brand.

In real terms, adjusted for inflation, data from the National Institute of Statistics indicate that the purchasing power of the average Romanian has doubled between 2014 and the present. Despite the uncertainty brought by the pandemic years, the resources accumulated prior to this period enabled Romania to maintain strong performance. According to Eurostat, Romania recorded a 58% increase in turnover in the non-food retail sector, the highest in the European Union. In comparison, other countries such as Poland (+40%), Hungary (+14%), and the Czech Republic (+10%) experienced significantly lower growth.

“This trend highlights the growing appeal of the Romanian retail market, which continues to draw renowned international players. The retail sector has once again become an attractive target for acquisitions. Not only in Romania, but also globally, investors are increasingly focusing on this asset class, which has proven its resilience during the pandemic. In Romania, growth remains strong, fueling a relatively busy calendar of transactions involving commercial assets. Over the past two years, the retail sector has accounted for approximately 40% of all investment transactions in the country”, concludes Simina Niculita, Director | Partner | Retail Agency at Colliers.

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