Romania has the fourth largest stock of new shopping centers for 2008-2009 in Europe

Romania ranks fourth in Europe regarding the new commercial center stock for 2008-2009 and the announced projects amount at 1.8 million square meters of new commercial centers, according to the most recent report, "European Shopping Centers Report"of Cushman & Wakefield.

The current stock stands at 910,000 square meters. Statistics show that Romania is outpaced by Russia (with 3.2 million square meters), Ukraine (2.8 million square meters) and Spain (1.98 million square meters).

On the other hand, Romania outpaces developed Western European countries as well as neighbors such as Poland (1.5 million square meters), Bulgaria (0.5 million square meters) and Hungary (0.2 million square meters).

The current boom of the development of commercial centers in Europe will carry on with more than 22 million square meters announced for this year and the next one, the report reads.

There are 40.9 square meters of commercial centers per capita at this moment in Romania and estimates indicate 127 square meters per capita for January 2010.

"The main reason that makes our country so attractive for international developers of shopping centers is the extremely small stock of modern commercial spaces in use," director of Cushman & Wakefield Activ Consulting, Razvan Gheorghe said.

The European Union average stands at 195 square meters per capita and Romania only has 40.9 while the Czech Republic has 158.5, Poland has 142 and Hungary has 120 square meters per capita.

"The small stock, the size of the market, the economic growth and the improvement of the purchasing power over the past years make Romania one of the main targets of international developers," Gheorghe said.

Last year 8.2 million square meters of shopping centers were inaugurated in Europe, representing 320 new shopping centers and 54 expansions. Of this amount, 256,000 square meters were inaugurated in Romania, which means a 39.2 percent stock growth from the year before. This year, at least 11 million square meters will be inaugurated in Europe and the same is estimated for next year.

Cushman & Wakefield is one of the biggest companies with private capital in the real estate field worldwide. It was founded in 1917, owns 221 offices in 58 countries and employs more than 15,000 people. The office in Romania was opened in 2007 by taking over its collaborator Activ Consulting. Cushman & Wakefield Activ Consulting posted 4.5 million euros revenues in 2007 and targets 8 million euros this year.

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