Page 33 - bne_Magazine_May_2018_print

bne May 2018 Special report I 33
These have boosted the Center-West district, which was opened up by the construction of the Basarab overpass, and is also close to the technical univer- sities and several high-density residen- tial areas meaning there is a substantial workforce on the doorstep of companies that set up there. AFI opened its AFI Cotroceni mall there and is completing its AFI Park office space, and now Forte Partners, CA IMMO, Ikea’s real estate arm Vastint and Skanska are all building offices in the area.
Meanwhile the Center-South area, conveniently close to the Timpuri Noi metro station, is the site of Vastint’s giant mixed use development, which when completed will deliver no less than 100,000 square metres (sqm)
of offices and a further 50,000 sim of residential space.
Developers are excited about the completion of the long-awaited M6 metro line. Indeed several new lines are under construction, and are progress- ing despite various corruption scandals, but of most interest to developers is
M6 which will run from Bucharest’s main railway station the Gara de Nord through the northern part of the city
to Henri Coanda Airport. This will, for example, make the area around the event centre Romexpo – Expozitiei much more accessible, and it is already becoming the next development hub. Portland Trust, GTC, Atenor and local businessman George Copos all have new office business parks under development in the area, while Impact is building a premium residential compound with 630 units.
Past and future
Another incipient trend is the redevelop- ment of historic buildings. Until recently – with the exception of a few projects like The Ark events and office space in the former commodities exchange and the commercial centre at the old Cartea Romaneasca printing press – Roma- nia’s architectural heritage has largely been neglected, with some of the city’s notable historic buildings allowed to
fall into disrepair. However, a couple of recent announcements indicate this could be changing.
One United Properties and France-based retailer Auchan plan to invest €100mn in a new mixed-use development at
the former Ford factory where the US automaker used to manufacture luxury cars in downtown Bucharest. The One Floreasca City project will see the fac- tory, built in 1935, restored and turned into a contemporary retail space, which will be flanked by an office town and three apartment blocks.
The developers stressed that the project “gives back to the city and its community an area abandoned in the last 20 years”. “To respect the heritage of the property, the investor will use for the interior design vintage Ford models, some of them produced in the inter-war years at Bucharest,” they added.
Meanwhile, earlier this year Lithuania- based Hamer started work at the former Grivita brewery plant near the Basra overpass, where for the first time an industrial space will be converted into lofts. The firm also plans to build a 6,000 sqm co-working space for local entrepreneurs.
Ponomarenco anticipates a “natural phenomenon of gentrification” in the coming years, where old, out-dated developments will be replaced by mod- ern, class A buildings, though she notes that for the time being locations like One Floreasca City are the exception; “Brownfield developments are possible, only if investors are willing to take the risk of a major urban redevelopment.”
And if the interest in redevelopment does gather pace, all eyes will be on Bucharest’s oldest industrial building, the Assam Mill, which is still standing
– just about. Fires partially destroyed the mill and its roof has fallen in, but its owners – two Cyprus registered compa- nies – are not allowed to raze it and take advantage of rising land values. Instead, nature is being left to take its course. But despite what Ponomarenco describes as “severe degradation and destruction”, the mill stands on a 4.7 ha plot and is “ideally placed in a central position”.
Map of the Bucharest metro; solid lines represent existing lines, broken lines are under development.
www.bne.eu