♦ Bucharest enters a new stage of urban development with investments of hundreds of millions of euros announced by the big developers, aimed at transforming the industrial areas abandoned into modern integrated communities ♦ with a pipeline of over 20,000 apartments for the next years and mixed-use projects that include commercial spaces, offices and facilities for the community, the capital will consolidate their position, Warsaw model ♦ Developers rely on the potential of areas with access to the subway and the real deficit of modern housing, given that 90% of the residential stock dates from before 1989. The local real estate market is restored in three directions: integrated residential developments anchored in the transport infrastructure, the urban regeneration of large areas in the east of Bucharest and the relaunch of the office segment by broadening the base of tenants and models of collaboration with the state. Residential, office and consulting leaders show that, although the costs have increased, the demand remains strong especially in the proximity of the subway stations, and the capital can be attracted with mixed projects, predictability in order to obtain authorizations and dialogue with the authorities. «The areas with developed infrastructure are areas with potential and I refer here especially to the transport infrastructure. I was one of the pioneers in the east area, the Pallady area, where in 2008 the M3 subway bus was expanded to Anghel Saligny and this was a positive signal that that area has no way to develop,» said Bogdan Bălaşa, General Hils Bălaşa During the event ZF Office and Residential Summit 2025, an event made with the support of Hils Development, One United Properties, Hagag Development Europe, North Bucharest Investments, Alesonor, Cloud9, Crosspoint, Evo Properties, EY, Băncilă & Diaconu, FDP, real estate.ro, Kuzini, Monrc, Parapet, Popovici, Niţu, Stoica and Associations, Pinum, Rehau, Redport, Smaa Architecture, STC Partners, Vastint. His company invests in a new area of 18 hectares in the area of the Industries-Publica, where it develops the largest urban regeneration project in the east of the capital. «I noticed that if you are less than 1 kilometer from a subway station, that area is extremely tempting from the point of view of residential development. It passed was in which you only built some blocks and left somewhere that means facilities. Now you have to come with an integrated vision, you have to do residential projects,» Hils Development has completed about 12,000 residential units so far and has provided a pipeline of thousands of apartments for the next 20 years. The average price for new apartments in Bucharest reached 2,200 euros per useful square meter, reflecting the request for new projects. The company will soon start the second phase of the Republic project, which will include 370 apartments and an 8,000-10,000 square meters with supermarket, restaurants, cafes, shops, pharmacy and medical clinic. «From the point of view of demand below we have a great diversity in terms of economic sectors looking for modern office spaces, which is always very good news, because the market does not have to depend on a particular sector,» said Mihai Paduroiu, CEO Office and Commercial Division at One United Properties. The executive sees major opportunities in the modernization of the public sector, offering the example of Budapest, where he recently visited an office campus of 160,000 square meters, fully occupied by the public sector and developed in a successful partnership with the state. «In Poland there are each year between 100 and 200 thousand square meters traded with the public sector area. There are millions of employees in the public sector who need to perform an ultramodern office infrastructure,» Padroiu stressed. A major competitive advantage of Bucharest remains the value for money. «The rent in an ultra sustainable building in Bucharest is by far the most competitive throughout the European Union. This is one of the substantial advantages that Bucharest has in front of the other capitals we fight for foreign direct investments,» added the representative of One United. Warsaw model inspires Bucharest developers. «In Warsaw we are talking about the same population, but with a GDP related to the capital 50% higher than in Bucharest – 150 billion versus 100 billion. I think we have the potential to reach the level they are now,» said Bogdan Bălaşa, stressing that in the capital of Poland, the authorities are extremely involved in promoting the residential. investors. «We look at how mixed-use residential projects are developing in other cities in Europe, in the capitals that can be compared to Bucharest, because we can learn certain things that we can implement in our projects,» added Hils manager, emphasizing the opening to the best international practices. Adriana Dobre, a partner in Băncilă, Diaconu and SPRL associates, sees potential in the conversion of former industrial platforms: «It would be for the benefit of all, because now we are talking about viran lands. Although there have been delays in obtaining authorizations in recent years, a situation that has led to estimated cost increases at 20-25% for some projects, developers remain optimistic and continue to invest. «We are very close to completion at the stage of Shell and Core for Hala Ford. Being a monument, we have to get a new series of opinions for interior design and, most likely at the end of April, we will inaugurate the entire area of the ground floor,» said Mihai Păduroiu about the One United project. Hagag Development Europe has 728 apartments in two Middle Market projects – H Pipera Lake and H East Residence – with a 52-53%degree of sale. «We are talking about another 1,008 developmental units. By 2028 we are talking about premium and upper premium projects: the two projects in the spring neighborhood and another project we work for,» said Andreea Dumitru, Chief Marketing Officer at Hagag. Bogdan Gubandru de la Redport emphasizes that the developer wants to «play the city of vast areas. In the east we have seen a great potential for a long time and we have big plots that can be coherently developed, we have access to the subway, to the ring road, access to international schools, which makes the area very good for families.» Market prospects remain solid in the long term. «Bucharest is a region that develops accelerated, which permanently attracts, every year, thousands of people who move here, who find a job. In the medium and long term, we see a constant growth, even if we will probably have turbulence,» concluded Bogdan Bălaşa. With a real deficit of modern housing, 90% of the residential stock dating before 1989 and a constantly growing demand fed by the internal migration to the Capital, the developers are convinced that the next decade will mark the decisive transformation of Bucharest into a modern urban pole to European standards. The increasing collaboration between the private sector and the local authorities, following the examples in Poland and Hungary, could accelerate this process of urban modernization.
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