NEPI Rockcastle to invest over 650 million euros for projects in Central and Eastern Europe

NEPI Rockcastle announces a budget of over 650 million euros for medium-term construction and redevelopment projects in Central and Eastern Europe.

“Currently, NEPI Rockcastle is carefully adapting its portfolio of projects under development to meet the high demand for retail space that we have observed in Central and Eastern Europe, both from international and local retailers, as well as from other sectors, such as entertainment or HoReCa.

I believe that our expansion in the Central and Eastern Europe region is a must, because there is a remarkable potential here: unlike in Western Europe, the area of commercial premises is still too small in relation to the demand, and the economies of the region are in -a strong growth process. That is precisely why we have calibrated our development strategy, starting with the property acquisitions we made at the end of 2022 and continuing with major developments and projects in 2023, as well as adapting our investment program. We expect the current portfolio of projects under development to be profitable from 2027,” said Rüdiger Dany, CEO of NEPI Rockcastle.

NEPI Rockcastle has a portfolio of 168,800 sqm of projects under construction or modernization, already started or planned for 2024, in Romania, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary. The most important are:

• Promenada Mall extension, Bucharest, Romania – mixed-use project worth approximately 282 million euros, with an area of 55,400 sqm, whose completion is planned at the end of 2026. The project is large and involves the excavation of the deepest basement of 26-meter Central and Eastern European building, where a 2,400-space car park will be built on six levels.

• Development of Galați Retail Park, Romania – the project will have 33,200 sqm, and the investment will amount to 48 million euros.

• Development of Promenada Plovdiv, Bulgaria – the new shopping center will occupy an area of 60,500 sqm, will generate approximately 1,500 jobs, and the investment amounts to 173 million euros. The project is undergoing authorization, and its inauguration is planned for 2026. Plovdiv Promenade will be the company’s third investment in Bulgaria, along with Serdika Center and Paradise Center in Sofia. With the opening of the future shopping center, Bulgaria will become the third largest market in the NEPI Rockcastle portfolio by gross leasable area (GLA) and asset value, behind Romania and Poland and ahead of Hungary.

• Modernization of Bonarka City Center Mall, Krakow, Poland – project worth 79 million euros, which includes an architectural redesign to add 4,700 sqm to the original area of 76,300 sqm.

• Modernization of Arena Mall, Budapest, Hungary – a project worth 31 million euros, with a duration of five years.

• Other projects: expansion of Ploiești Shopping City, Romania – the project involves the addition of 7,400 sqm; the extension of Galeria Wolomin with 2,800 sqm and Pogoria Shopping Centre, in Dabrowa Gornicza, with 4,800 sqm, both in Poland. The investments amount to a total value of 39 million euros.

Also, NEPI Rockcastle intends to expand its project which involved the installation of photovoltaic panels throughout the portfolio of properties in Romania, in 2022 and 2023. Thus, these installations currently produce 25% of the total energy needs of the portfolio in Romania.