Hercesa Romania Starts Construction of the Fourth Building in Stellaris

Following the success of the first three buildings in the first phase of Stellaris Residencias, the project that Hercesa Romania is developing next to the Steaua stadium in Bucharest, the company has decided to start works on the last block of this stage, which will have 114 apartments, just six months after the start of construction on the third building, with its 112 units. These add to the developer’s portfolio of apartments currently under construction, comprised of the 124 units in building 2 of Stellaris Residencias, the 105 in the Vivenda Prime project and the 167 in block D of Vivenda Residencias.

“We are at the end of a year marked by economic volatility and significant tax changes, such as the removal in August of the reduced 9% VAT rate, with inflation at 9.8%, the highest in the European Union, and the key interest rate kept at 6.5%”, said Alejandro Solano, General Manager of Hercesa Internacional. “The residential market in Bucharest, the second most important in our portfolio, has nevertheless proved resilient, and this is why we have decided to accelerate our development plans, launching new phases in the two projects, Stellaris and Vivenda, and targeting the premium segment through Vivenda Prime”, added Alejandro Solano.

One United Properties Acquires 34,800 sqm Plot of Land in Constanţa

tudor@cijeurope.com
11 December 2025
Land

One United Properties announces the signing of a preliminary sale and purchase agreement for a 34,800 sqm plot of land in Constanța, on the Black Sea coast. The land that the company is set to acquire from the Alezzi Group, a well-known local real estate developer, is located in the Faleză Nord-Pescărie area, one of the most highly rated districts in the city, with easy access to both the beach and the main points of urban interest.

The land benefits from access to Mamaia Boulevard and is located in the northern part of the city, right next to the entrance to Mamaia resort. The building permit already issued for this land allows for the construction of seven tower blocks, six of which will be residential and one a 5-star hotel, a commercial and leisure area, a school and kindergarten, a restaurant area, a gym/spa, a promenade, as well as the necessary parking spaces for the complex. On this land, One United Properties intends to build a residential development with integrated commercial functions. The gross development value is estimated at approximately EUR 500 million. The land already has a building permit, so work will begin in about a year, and completion is estimated in about three years from the start of construction.

CIJ Awards 2025: Carbon Footprint Journey with CarbonTool

For the third consecutive year, the CIJ Awards partnered with CarbonTool to measure and communicate the environmental impact of our event. What began as a simple calculation effort in 2023 has evolved into a defining part of our sustainability journey, one that helps us track our progress and understand our influence.

This year, CarbonTool once again introduced a live carbon footprint dashboard, allowing guests to follow the event’s environmental impact as the evening unfolded. Attendees were able to contribute their commuting method, directly shaping the final results and making the assessment more accurate and more reflective of real mobility choices.

Event Carbon Footprint Results

The total carbon footprint of the CIJ Awards 2025 amounted to 6,602 kgCO₂e, covering all major activity categories assessed for the event. The distribution across key categories is as follows:

Commuting: 2,497 (37.8%)
Food & Beverages: 2,118 (32.1%)
CIJ Team: 1,350 (20.4%)
Waste: 294 (4.46%)
Event Materials: 224 (3.39%)
Electricity: 119 (1.8%)

When viewed per attendee, the footprint translates to 30.63 kgCO₂e, offering a clear and comparable indicator of the event’s environmental performance. These results provide a solid baseline for guiding future improvements and ensuring we continue moving in the right direction.

Making the Data Meaningful

To make the overall impact more intuitive, CarbonTool translated the event’s total footprint into a set of accessible, real-world equivalences. These visual comparisons helped attendees better understand the scale of emissions at a glance, turning technical data into something tangible, relatable, and easier to communicate. This approach continues to encourage meaningful conversations about sustainability among participants, partners, and the broader community.

Commuting Insights from Attendees

Mobility plays a central role in any event’s environmental impact, and this year’s data offered several encouraging insights. Commuting contributions from attendees highlighted car travel, walking, and rail-based public transport as the top three modes. This mix reflects a balance between convenience and lower-impact choices: while many relied on cars, a notable share of guests chose to walk or use urban rail systems, an optimistic sign of increasing accessibility and environmental awareness.

These patterns not only enrich our understanding of how participants travel but also point to clear opportunities for future editions to further promote low-carbon commuting options and strengthen our overall impact reduction efforts.

Looking Ahead

The findings from this year’s assessment reinforce a hopeful message: change is possible, and it’s measurable. Each year, the CIJ Awards becomes more sustainable. Not through dramatic shifts, but through consistent, cumulative improvements supported by data, transparency, and collaboration.

With CarbonTool’s support and the engagement of our community, we remain committed to setting a positive example for responsible, sustainability-focused event management.

FIRST Enters the Romanian Market

FIRST, the newest digital real estate listing platform developed in Romania, was launched locally this autumn and introduces a modern approach to exploring and selecting properties, built around the real needs of today’s users.

Within the local real estate ecosystem, FIRST is introducing two new modules.The first module, soon to be available on the platform, is a dedicated section for real estate developers, featuring personalized pages with complete company information, contact details, ongoing projects and active offers. This centralized format will increase the visibility of new developments and streamline the interaction between developers and potential buyers.

The second module is a comprehensive financial information section designed to support users throughout the mortgage application process. It will include a list of partner banks, details about available lending offers, a mortgage calculator, and a dedicated area where users can apply for financing directly.

Saint Roastery Botanica Opens Urban Café in Business Garden Bucharest

tudor@cijeurope.com
9 December 2025
Office

Vastint Romania, part of the VASTINT Group, announces the opening of Saint Roastery Botanica urban café in Business Garden Bucharest.

Business Garden Bucharest, located in the Orhideea-Grozavesti area of Bucharest, has a rentable area of 43,000 sqm and tenants such as Sparkware Technologies, Sanamed, Regina Maria, Ikea, Schindler, Tchibo, Vel Pitar, Rail Cargo, Pandora.

“We are very happy to open Saint Roastery Botanica in Business Garden Bucharest, because it is more than just a coffee shop — it is a place where people can meet and feel part of the community we are building here. New shops and on-site amenities are not only practical, but also part of our long-term commitment to our tenants: they make work easier, create real opportunities for connection, and help turn office buildings into lively spaces that fit naturally into everyday life. We believe that additions like these truly improve both the professional and social experience of everyone who chooses Business Garden as their base.”, declared Sorin Macoveiu, Commercial Director of Vastint Romania.

Eazy Asigurări Chooses its New Headquarters in One Cotroceni Park

tudor@cijeurope.com
9 December 2025
Office

One United Properties announces the signing of a lease agreement for the new headquarters of Eazy Asigurări within One Cotroceni Park. The company office will spread over 1,000 square meters and will benefit from all the high-performance working conditions offered by a LEED Platinum and WELL Health & Safety certified building.

“The One Cotroceni Park community brings together companies that value modern office spaces, advanced technologies, and services adapted to today’s working styles, where teams seek more than efficiency and choose to prioritise employee wellbeing. We are pleased that Eazy Asigurări has found all these attributes in our spaces at One Cotroceni Park, the most modern business hub in Bucharest and a true landmark for the corporate community”, says Mihai Păduroiu, CEO Office Division at One United Properties.

2026’s Beginning Brings Lower Mortgage Interest Rates

The beginning of 2026 will bring a decrease of mortgage loans interest rates applied in Romania, both on fixed interest rates segment, which represent over 98% of loans granted at this moment, and also on the variable interest rates segment, as a result of the decrease of the benchmark index for loans to consumers (IRCC), shows a market report issued by online broker Ipotecare.ro and financial consultant SVN Romania | Credit & Financial Solutions.

Thus, IRCC will decrease to 5.67% in the first quarter of 2026, a similar value to that registered at the beginning of this year. Fixed interest rates applied on the mortgage segment will also decrease in the first months of next year, to an average of about 5.55% according to SVN Credit Romania’s calculation, from a level of about 5.70% in the last quarter of this year.

The 5.55% level estimated for the average fixed interest rate at the beginning of 2026 will be the third lowest registered in the last four years in Romania, while the variable interest rate, estimated at 8,17% and calculated as IRCC plus a fixed a rate of 2,5%, will be the fourth lowest value recorded since the beginning of 2023.

The second quarter of next year could bring a further decrease in mortgage rates interest rates according to SVN’s calculations based on the current IRCC daily values, the potential level for IRCC in 2^nd quarter being of about 5.58% – IRCC is calculated based on daily values registered two quarters ago.

2025 was characterised by a stability in the first nine months of the year for mortgage interest rates, the fixed ones registering values between 5.45% and 5.70% throughout the year, while IRCC indicator varied between 5.55% and 6.06% in the last months of the year.

”2025 will set new records in terms of total volumes of mortgage loans granted in Romania, both for new loans accessed for home transactions and also for all forms of refinancings and conversions. 2026 is set to be at least as a good year, in the absence of macroeconomic events with strong negative impact – in the short term, the most important factor will be the evolution of the inflation rate, which will also determine the evolution of the loan interest rates,” said Alexandru Radulescu, managing partner SVN Romania | Credit & Financial Solutions, the exclusive partner of Ipotecare.ro.

2025 will most likely set a new record for mortgage loans granted in Romania. The most recent data published by the National Bank show that mortgage loans worth EUR 9.2 billion were granted in the first 10 mnths of 2025, up 26% compared to the similar period from 2024 – please bear in mind that this volume also includes refinancings, conversions, transfers and restructurings.

Home sales decreased by an annual rate of 2.7% in Romania after the first ten months of this year, while the number of residential units traded in Bucharest – Ilfov region decreased by an annual rate of 5.7% in the first ten months of 2025.

Swan Office & Technology Park Continue to Evolve with a Growing Automotive Presence

tudor@cijeurope.com
9 December 2025
Office

Companies representing well known auto and motorcycle brands such as Mercedes-Benz Romania, Maserati, Chery, Daimler Truck & Bus and a major global electric vehicle manufacturer have established their offices and presentation showrooms within the Swan Office & Technology Park project, occupying a total leased area of 9,000 sqm, further complemented by Moto24 / Xplorator, a multi-brand motorcycle showroom that adds diversity to the mobility offering.

“The growing concentration of automotive and motorcycle brands at Swan Office & Technology Park marks an important new chapter for the project, reinforcing its identity as a truly mixed-use destination for business, mobility, and modern retail. Swan has always offered more than office space, bringing together workplaces and vital on-site services in one integrated campus. The decision of multiple leading automotive brands and showrooms to locate their operations here is a strong endorsement of the park’s quality, visibility and strategic location. This momentum fits naturally with the transformation of Pipera area into a mature urban district, supported by a solid retail base and more than 15,000 premium homes already delivered or currently in the pipeline.” said George Drăgan, CEO of Smartown Group.

Swan Office & Technology Park comprise three office buildings: Kington Building, Henley Building and Windsor Building, which provides approximately 30,000 sqm of prime office and retail space. The development is sustainability led and holds a BREEAM Very Good certification.

Ciprian Ciucu is the New Mayor of Bucharest

Ciprian Ciucu won the elections for the City Hall of the Capital with 36.16% of the votes, in an election marked by a presence of 32.71% of the total voters. The new mayor general of Bucharest comes to the helm of the municipal administration after a term at the City Hall of Sector 6, where he held the position of mayor since October 2020.

The elections were organized following the election of former mayor general Nicușor Dan as President of Romania in May 2025. The interim position of mayor general was ensured by Stelian Bujduveanu until the validation of the result of these elections.

17 candidates were validated for the position of mayor general of the Capital: 10 representing political parties and 7 independent candidates. Compared to the local elections in June 2024, when turnout was over 41%, the figures from December 7, 2025 reflect a significant decrease in voter mobilization.

iO Partners Appoints Andrei Văcaru as Managing Director for Romania

tudor@cijeurope.com
4 December 2025
Jobs

iO Partners is entering a new leadership chapter in Romania with the appointment of Andrei Văcaru as Managing Director from 1/1/2026. Andrei has been part of the company’s backbone for 18 years.

“Andrei has shaped this organization in ways few people have, and his judgment has been a stabilizing force through every transition we’ve gone through”, said Charles Boudet, CEO of iO Partners. “His appointment brings the continuity and market understanding we need as we move into the next phase of growth.”

“Stepping into this role feels like a natural continuation of the work we’ve been building for many years. I’ve worked through many stages of this company’s development, and that perspective helps me understand what differentiates us and what makes us strong. We have skilled people, solid partnerships and a clear direction. My focus now is to bring stability where it’s needed and pace where it matters”, said Andrei Văcaru, Managing Director of iO Partners Romania.

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