Cluj-Napoca

E.ON Business Services Cluj moves its headquarters to Record Park after one of the largest rental transactions outside Bucharest
E.ON Business Services Cluj moves its headquarters to Record Park after one of the largest rental transactions outside Bucharest 770 584 ROMANIA PROPERTY CLUB

03.11.2022

E.ON Business Services Cluj, the accounting services division of the German group E.ON, moves its offices to the Record Park project in Cluj-Napoca, where it has leased 3,500 square meters, one of the largest areas traded so far by a company outside Bucharest.

E.ON Business Services was established in Cluj-Napoca in 2012, with the aim of delivering financial and accounting services to internal clients of the E.ON Group worldwide. The company reached 600 employees and a turnover of over 20 million euros in 2021. The company’s offices are moved from Amera Tower, an office building developed by investors Ádám and Enikő Ambrus, on two consecutive floors in Record Park, project which offers a total of 15,000 square meters of office space and 236 apartments. E.ON has leased almost a quarter of Record Park Offices, a project delivered in 2020 that also houses the headquarters of MHP Consulting Romania, a subsidiary of Porsche AG, and that of the American insurance company MassMutual.

The Record Park Offices building is owned by AYA Properties Fund, a Belgian real estate investment fund. At the beginning of this year, Speedwell sold Record Park Offices in Cluj-Napoca to the Belgian investment fund AYA Properties Fund for 35 million euros. There is limited shareholder overlap between Speedwell and AYA Properties Fund.

Last year, Speedwell announced that it had invested around 90 million euros on the Romanian market, the equivalent of some projects with a value of around 400 million euros, and that it aims to place an additional capital of 90 million euros with the aim of doubling the portfolio in the next 4 years. The company’s expansion plans are secured by an investment fund launched in 2019 and in which several wealthy Belgian families have investments.

Top cities that attracted the most office tenants in the third quarter of 2022
Top cities that attracted the most office tenants in the third quarter of 2022 420 250 ROMANIA PROPERTY CLUB

03.11.2022

Across the country, in the last three months, companies have leased modern offices with a total area of 108,747 sqm, both new offices and contract extensions, up 9% from the same quarter of 2021, according to an analysis by Fortim Trusted Advisors, an alliance member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate.

At the country level, large cities have an increasing share in the total number of office rentals, to the detriment of the capital. In Bucharest, contracts were rented, pre-rented and extended for a total office area of about 75,700 sqm, while in Iasi of 11,355 sqm, in Cluj-Napoca of 9,293 sqm and in Timisoara of 6,415 sqm.

“Office segments in cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara are developing, but more cautiously. Investors only move from one stage of the projects to another after making sure that there is a current demand. Until now, regional markets have attracted more and more large demand, from multinational companies, which have seen an opportunity in the well-trained workforce, in regional universities and which are now expanding easily from one city to another, depending on the availability of quality office spaces”, says Nicolae Ciobanu, Managing Partner – Head of Advisory Fortim Trusted Advisors, an alliance member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Among the large office tenants who have chosen another city, besides Bucharest, there are also Accenture (in Cluj-Napoca), Linde Global Services, Hella (in Iasi), Tech Mahindra (in Timisoara), Expleo (Iasi).

In the third quarter of 2022, Accenture rented an office space in the Hexagon Offices building in Cluj-Napoca, Linde Global Services pre-leased in the UBC 0 building, from the Iulius Town Timisoara project, and Preh Romania, Hella and Expleo pre-leased in the Palas Campus project.

The new office buildings in the primary and secondary cities of Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara, Brasov and Craiova have the same high-quality standards A and the same types of facilities for employees (retail areas, services, common spaces for socialization, green certifications), as those in Bucharest.

In addition, in primary and secondary cities, other premium office projects are in development, which will ensure constant deliveries of new offices over the next two to three years.

IULIUS obtains the largest real estate loan granted in Romania to date: more than EUR 410 million
IULIUS obtains the largest real estate loan granted in Romania to date: more than EUR 410 million 810 600 ROMANIA PROPERTY CLUB

29.09.2022

IULIUS Company together with partners Atterbury Europe, recently signed a 410 million Euro financing agreement for the nationwide network of Iulius Mall regional shopping centers in Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Suceava and Timișoara. The loan supports the long-term investment plans of the developer toward consolidating its projects’ regional market leader status in the retail and entertainment segment.

 The 410 million Euro loan contracted by IULIUS Company is a long-term syndicated loan refinancing granted by Erste Group Bank AG, Banca Comercială Română S.A., Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien AG, OTP Bank Nyrt, and OTP Bank Romania S.A. Wolf Theiss, one of the largest law firms in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, provided the legal framework for conducting this transaction.

“This is a landmark transaction for the Romanian real estate market by the volume and characteristics which offer a viable alternative to the capital market. On the one hand, it certifies the financing parties’ confidence in the projects of IULIUS Company that have grown into sustainable and recognized regional centers of attraction in terms of shopping, business and leisure. On the other hand, it certifies our loyalty to and trust in banks as business partners, which are essential values in our organization. The new loan is geared towards implementing the corporate goals in the development strategy of the company,” said Marius Perșenea, Chief Operating Officer.

As of 2017, the Iulius Mall regional shopping mall network in Iași, Suceava, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara (an integral part of the Iulius Town Timișoara mixed-use project) is owned by companies IULIUS and Atterbury Europe based on a 50-50 joint venture partnership.

The company portfolio includes major real estate projects with an initial investment value upwards of 1 billion Euro, projects that have shifted lifestyle perceptions, redefined, and revitalized city centres, and harmoniously integrated with their respective communities. The operating portfolio currently comprises 310,000 sqm of retail premises located in two mixed-use urban regeneration projects (Palas Iași and Iulius Town Timișoara), the only ones of this kind in Romania, in the nationwide network of Iulius Mall regional shopping malls (in Iași, Cluj-Napoca, and Suceava), as well as the first Family Market project in Miroslava (Iași), a convenience retail concept. These are vibrant spaces that define poles of urban attraction and draw more than 70 million visits every year.

IULIUS is launching a new investment in Cluj-Napoca – the largest urban regeneration project in Romania
IULIUS is launching a new investment in Cluj-Napoca – the largest urban regeneration project in Romania 420 250 ROMANIA PROPERTY CLUB

04.04.2022

With more than a decade’s worth of expertise in developing and operating mixed-use urban regeneration complexes in Romania, the only projects of this kind in the country, IULIUS Group is now launching a new project in Cluj-Napoca.

The investment upwards of half a billion Euro focuses on the Carbochim platform, set to become the largest urban reconversion project on the Romanian market. This urban development endeavor will transform the industrial area into a vibrant space in Cluj and will be integrated as part of the city. The Carbochim factory will be relocated this year and upgraded, without any periods of business interruption. The new project includes:

  • the largest retail area in the country (115,000 sqm)
  • a center dedicated to performing arts
  • conservation of two industrial heritage buildings and reintroduction thereof into the public circuit
  • a model of integrated approach to green spaces, connecting the urban garden spanning on 4-plus hectares with the adjacent parks, and a complete reconfiguration of the road and pedestrian infrastructure
  • a new bridge and a pedestrian walkway over Someș River
  • an eco-neighborhood integrated in a mixed-use project
  • bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure along the Someș River waterfront
  • consolidating a new business hub
  • the largest underground parking lot in the country, with 6,000-plus parking spaces.

After 15 years of presence in Cluj-Napoca, IULIUS is launching the largest urban reconversion project in the country. Using a massive investment, estimated upwards of half a billion euro, the Carbochim industrial platform will be converted into a destination of the city, a unique meeting place for the community. As far as magnitude of investment, urban development impact, and diversity of the uses integrated therein go, this will be the most prominent project in Transylvania, after the Cluj-Napoca metro line project.

Carbochim is the largest manufacturer of professional abrasives in Romania. The industrial platform spans on approximately 14 hectares, with less than 30% of the area currently utilized for manufacturing purposes, while the rest is either underused or residual. The factory will be relocated this year in the industrial area of the city, in the former industrial facilities of Tricotaje Someșul on Muncii Boulevard. More than € 5 million will be invested in relocating, modernizing and upgrading the production unit, without interruptions to its activity.

“We want to give to the city a piece of itself by transforming the Carbochim platform into a space for the entire community. The urban reconversion investment will be a large-scale one, in line with the general urban development strategy of Cluj. This project is designed for the present, but also for the generations to come. It expresses our vision of gratitude for the past by continuing the industrial activity, while also creating the future via a sustainable and resilient project,” said Iulian Dascălu, President of IULIUS Company.

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