The new supply of retail projects could exceed the threshold of 200,000 sqm in 2024, when considering that 140,000 sqm of shopping centers and retail parks were delivered nationwide in Q1 – Q3, according to the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company. In 2023, developers completed 213,000 sqm of new retail spaces, a record of the last seven years. 

In Q3, 2 new projects (Annabella Retail Park, Sinaia Plaza) and 2 extensions – to Ploiesti Shopping City and Prahova Value Centre – were completed, totaling around 22,000 sqm.

The modern retail stock in Romania thus reached 4.59 million sqm, out of which 55 percent consists of shopping centers, while retail parks and commercial galleries account for the other 45 percent, with a retail density of 241 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants across the country, still one of the lowest in the CEE region.

The development activity on the retail market will remain highly dynamic in the coming period, when accounting for the consistent plans announced by the major developers present in Romania.

The short-to-long term pipeline exceeds 800,000 sqm GLA, consisting of projects under construction or in different permitting stages, which are due to be completed by the end of the decade and which include several super-regional shopping centers of more than 100,000 sq. m each.

“The retail market is going through a very positive context, having successfully passed the more difficult periods of the last few years. The YTD 2024 impressive retail sales growth has remained well above the EU average, thus encouraging the development of new projects, but also the expansion of retail networks, whether we are referring to hypermarkets or supermarkets, fashion, DYI or other product segments. Interest in new retail schemes remains high, an important indicator in this respect being the occupancy rate of the projects delivered in recent years, which is over 90 percent,” explains Dana Radoveneanu, Head of Retail Agency Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The prime shopping center and high street rents in Bucharest recorded slight surges, up to €90 and €60/ sq. m/ month respectively (for units ranging between 100 – 200 sq. m at the ground floor of dominant shopping centers or on Calea Victoriei), while the corresponding figures in secondary cities, such as Cluj – Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi and Constanta remained constant, ranging between €50 – 65/ sqm/ month.