Around 77 percent of Bucharest’s offices are close to major subway stations, says Colliers

Around 77 percent of Bucharest’s modern office spaces are within 10 minutes’ walking distance from a subway station, according to the latest data from the real estate consultancy company Colliers International. The interest in office developments is still focused on northern and western locations, as the largest office deliveries by the end of 2020 will be near Aurel Vlaicu (73,200 sqm) and Politehnica (58,400 sqm) subway stations.

In a city so crowded in terms of road traffic like Bucharest, residential, offices and retail schemes get a significant boost from a connection to the subway, the most efficient and comfortable means of public transportation. Almost 2 million sqm of Bucharest’s 2.6 million sqm of modern office spaces – or around 77 percent – are within 10 minutes walking distance from a subway station. Also, some 0.9 million sqm are closely located around two neighboring stations in the northern part of Bucharest – the Floreasca/Barbu Vacarescu and Dimitrie Pompeiu submarkets. Another fast-growing submarket – Center West – is much more dispersed, with office buildings there around several subway stations.

“In as far as the vacancy rate is concerned, the 77 percent of modern office stock close to subway stations fares rather well: at the end of 2018, the vacancy rate stood at around 7 percent, below the market average of 9.5 percent, whereas for the rest of the 23 percent, it was over 19 percent. For 2019, it is likely that this gap between buildings with subway connections and those without only widened as a sizeable relocation took place recently, for instance. Over the medium term, this difference is likely to hold, leading to a more layered market in terms of both rents and investment products”, said Sebastian Dragomir, Director Office Advisory at Colliers.