The first quarter of the year 2020, mostly starting with mid-February, was marked by ominous economic forecasts. Thus, some decline in construction activity was to be expected, and indeed newly started construction projects dropped to just over €1.3 billion in Q1 2020. This amounts to a 14% decrease compared to the equivalent period of 2019, according to the latest edition of the EBI Construction Activity Report for Romania.

Developer NEPI Rockcastle completed the construction of the 39,800 sqm Shopping City Targu Mures project in Romania in Q1 2020. The opening was, however, rescheduled from the end of March to Q3 2020. The company is not launching new constructions until there is further clarity on the impact of COVID-19 on its operations.

Real estate developer Hagag Development Europe has completed the structure of the first three buildings related to the first phase of the large-scale residential project H Pipera Lake. Construction works for buildings 4 and 5 reached the ground floor. Out of the total number of apartments available in the first three buildings, 60% have already been sold

Local real estate developer Rock Development, controlled by a subsidiary of UniCredit Group, has launched the construction of the Avrig Park Residence residential project in Bucharest’s Bucur Obor area.

Romanian proptech start-up Bright Spaces, which develops a complete digital platform for showcasing and offering for office buildings and spaces, has been selected to join proptech accelerator Pi Labs in the United Kingdom. Pi Labs is the first venture capital firm in Europe to invest exclusively in proptech start-ups and Europe's most active investor in the field. Bright Spaces was chosen, along with 4 other European start-ups, out of a total of over 600 registered teams. The Romanian startup will enter a 15-week intensive program, with the objective of developing the product and scaling the company to the size and needs of the European office market.

Romanian investor Dragos Dragoteanu, the owner of local real estate company Euroest Invest, plans to develop an office project on a land plot he owns near Victoriei Square in central Bucharest, Ziarul Financiar reports.

Element Industrial announced the launch of Eli Xpress, a new line of business based on the concept of proximity storage. Eli Xpress warehouses will offer areas between 6,000 and 12,000 square meters and will be located close to large cities, or even inside cities.

Romanian developer Global Vision has launched the developments of a new logistics park near Henri Coanda International Airport in Bucharest. Bucharest Airport Park will offer 13,520 sqm of space in two warehouses. The complex is being built on a 35,000 sqm land parcel, which the developer purchased last year for more than €5 million.

Reopening the office requires rethinking the daily experience and setting clear protocols for how everything in the office operates while managing the health and safety risks of our employees. How the returning to work is managed will be critical for employee health and well-being but also for the confidence in their employer and landlord, according to the latest data from CBRE.

Profi, one of the largest retail chains in Romania, expands its logistic activities by contracting two new projects in Timisoara (58,000 sqm) and Craiova (57,000 sqm), which will be developed and rented out by Belgian logistics developer WDP. JLL has advised Profi in both transactions, thus continuing the partnership started few years ago, which resulted in 250,000 sqm of logistics space contracted in Bucharest, Roman, Cluj, Craiova and Timisoara.