According to Dunwell data, approximately 300,000 square meters of industrial projects are in the process of development, one third of the surface being built in Bucharest or near Bucharest.
"Several major projects started last year will be completed in 2019 and developers are already tracking land for new developments in regional cities such as Craiova, Constanta or Iasi, with the desire to increase their coverage across the country. However, there is a tendency to increase demand for smaller projects and we expect the East of Bucharest to become a pole of such developments due to the lack of competition already existing in the West of the Capital, the easy public connection with the city and the A2 motorway, and the availability of workforce in the area. At the same time, the North-East area of Bucharest, in the vicinity of the A3 Bucharest-Ploiesti highway, is being targeted by more and more real estate developers for future industrial projects", said Daniel Cautiş, managing partner of Dunwell real estate consulting agency.
The stock of Class A industrial projects in Romania was around 3.5 million sq m at the end of last year. In terms of deliveries announced by developers, Romania will exceed the historical threshold of 4 million sq m Class A stock of industrial projects, a performance that reflects the growing interest of investors for our country.
"Romania is experiencing a favorable period in the real estate market and the industrial sector has gained considerable momentum, based on the increase of the national consumption and implicitly the demand for storage space, thus creating opportunities for development for investors as well as for developers. If at the end of last year the industrial market recorded a low vacancy rate of less than 5%, we estimate an increase in the vacancy rate to 8% in 2019. As a result of this development, we are expecting an increased pressure on the rents, which at the end of last year amounted to 3.8 EUR / sqm -4 EUR / sqm in the whole country", added Daniel Cautiş.
Among the most active industrial project developers in 2018 were CTP, with about 50% of total deliveries, WDP, VGP and Zacaria. For the current year, besides the new deliveries announced by the big players already existing on the Romanian market, major projects were launched in the capital area by new developers such as MLP or Element Industrial.
The industrial sector, dominated by the evolution of retail and FMCG markets
Demand for industrial premises is at a high level, with retail and FMCG companies taking the first place in the volume of contracted storage space.
Of the total volume of 700,000 square meters that was traded in 2018, retail stood at the top of the industry with a 42% share. Companies such as Metro Cash & Carry, Auchan or Carrefour completed the largest transactions in 2018, accounting for about 40% of total demand. In turn, the FMCG segment accounted for 20% of total transactions last year, with both retail and FMCG sectors exceeding 60% of the total market.
As expected, a majority of 60% of all transactions was made for industrial premises in the Capital.
"The trend of increased demand in retail and FMCG will continue this year because both are closely related to maintaining a high level of consumption across the country. This evolution of the consumer market plays a key role and will positively influence the progress of industrial space development this year", added Daniel Cautiş, Managing Partner Dunwell.
The level of demand from logistics companies, although moving first from the second in 2018, remained a significant one, accounting for a quarter of total transactions. (source: constructiv.ro)
