The Advisers/Knight Frank: shopping centers delivered throughout 2013 in Romania, opened with better occupancy rates than has been seen in previous years
Romania saw 114,500 sq m of new modern retail stock delivered to the shopping center market in 2013, with only one opening in the capital city, and other four projects delivered throughout the country. Raiffeisen Evolution opened the doors of Promenada Mall (35,000 sq m) in the Barbu Vacarescu – Calea Floreasca office hub of Bucharest in the second half of 2013. AFI Europe opened their project in Ploiesti, AFI Palace Ploiesti (30,000 sq m), also in the second half of 2013. NEPI delivered Galati Shopping City in the eastern city, Galati, while the northern part of Romania saw the delivery of Uvertura Mall in Botosani. A smaller size retail scheme was delivered in Constanta, as Cora Bratianu. As for the future shopping center developments, the most competitive areas are Brasov and the eastern part of Bucharest. In Brasov, four main development locations have been announced by Nepi, Cora, Echo Development and Immochan. The eastern section of Bucharest will see increased future competition due to the development of Mega Mall and Parklake. Apart from these, three additional shopping centers are expected to be launched in the capital city in the coming years: Vulcan Value Center, Victoria Lifestyle Center and Tricodava Shopping Center.
