Historical building ‘Magazinul București’ to re-enter commercial flow, following 6.5 million Euro investment

The reconstruction of the famous Magazinul București, with a history of 90 years, has been completed, following an investment of over 6.5 million euro. The building that maintains the specific curved glass display cases, originally integrated in the emblematic interwar period store, is designed to combine retail spaces, Class A offices and a restaurant under the same roof.

Magazinul București is located near University Square, Intercontinental, Cocor and Unirii Square. The building has a total leasable area of approximately 3,150 square meters, distributed over seven levels, which can accommodate tenants from retail, office and co-working but also services.

”90 years after the inauguration, Magazinul București is reconstructed in its original space, adapted to modern standards. The building preserves the former façade and reintroduces emblematic elements of the original architecture, modernized to suit the new design, such as the blind above the ground floor, the central glass axis to the main facade and the curved glass shopping windows, unique at the time of construction. At the same time, the new store still bears traces of its rich history, integrating original elements partially recovered during the demolitions, such as floor tiles, various ornamental metal elements from the curved windows and marble elements”, said Radu Moldoveanu, the owner’s representative of Magazinul Bucuresti in Romania.

Built in the interwar period, Magazinul Bucuresti became one of the most important shopping centers before ’89, but after the Revolution it was abandoned. In 2010, the building was given back to the heirs of the Bunescu family who built it almost a century ago, and three years later it was bought by Dutch investors Gerard Heinen and Johannes Jozefus Maria Baakman, for over 4 million euro. The two investors are part of a group of Dutch investors, who own several spaces in the historical center of the capital, thus being among the largest private owners in the area.The reconstruction works of Magazinul Bucuresti started in September 2018 and were completed in less than a year and a half.

”Magazinul Bucuresti has always been a true landmark of Bucharest’s historic center. 90 years after the original construction, we wanted to give this landmark back to Bucharest and put the building on the map once again. Today, the new Magazinul Bucuresti continues to write history, being ready to welcome new tenants in a building that brings history back into a modern, class A space”, said investors who own Magazinul Bucuresti.