New entry on the Romanian market: CBRE advised Bank of China in setting up a branch in Bucharest, by leasing 800 sqm office space in City Gate

CBRE, leader on the real estate consultancy market, advised Bank of China, one of the largest banks in the world, in the process of setting up operations in Romania by leasing approximately 800 square meters of office space in City Gate.

The agreement for the office space was signed in September 2019 after a leasing process led by Sandra Apachitei, Advisor within Advisory & Transaction Services, Office Occupier, CBRE Romania.

Bank of China opened a branch in Romania on December 16, choosing for its headquarter City Gate. The 47,600 sqm office tower is owned by GTC in the north of Bucharest.

The opening of the new unit marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Romania and China, setting up a branch in Romania being the natural result of these positive evolutions. The branch’s operations in Bucharest are led by Guo Lixin.

“The entrance of a new company on the Romanian market, that leases from the beginning an important office surface, represents a very good sign both for the real estate market and for the business environment. In Bucharest, on the office space market, in the third quarter, companies leased over 84,000 sqm, with an increase of 15% compared to the same period last year”, stated Tudor Ionescu, Head of Advisory & Transaction Services, Office, CBRE Romania.

In the first nine months of 2019, the highest demand for office space rentals came from companies in the Computers & Hi-Tech sector (47% of the total leasing activity), which leased spaces for a total of 13,500 employees and from the financial sector (16% of the total leasing activity), which leased offices for 4,700 employees. As for the most dynamic leasing activity areas, they were the western part of Bucharest (with 31% of the leased volume) followed by the central area (with 21%), then by the northern part and Pipera (with 19%).

The total stock of modern office space in Bucharest reached about 3.16 million sqm at the end of the first three quarters of 2019, more than half of it being class A office buildings, with an overall vacancy rate of 9.3%, slightly increasing compared to the same period last year.

About 60,000 sqm office spaces were delivered in the third quarter in Bucharest, through two Expo Business Park projects, developed by the Portland Trust in the northern area and The Light, developed by River Development in the western part of Bucharest. Currently, western and northern Bucharest are home to 50% of the total stock of Class A premises, according to CBRE Research data.

About Bank of China

Bank of China include BOC Hong Kong, BOC International, BOCG Insurance and other financial institutions, providing a comprehensive range of high-quality financial services to individual and corporate customers as well as financial institutions worldwide. Over the past century, Bank of China played an important role in China’s financial history. It was established in 1912 pursuant to the approval of DR. Sun Yat-sen. In the following 37 years the Bank served as the central bank, international exchange bank and specialized foreign trade bank successively. In 1949, Bank of China became the state-designated specialized foreign exchange bank. In 2003, it was named by the State Council as one of the pilot banks for joint-stock reform of wholly state-owned commercial banks. On August 26, 2004, Bank of China Limited was formally incorporated in Beijing as a state-controlled joint stock commercial bank. Bank of China is the most internationalized commercial bank in China. BOC London Branch, the first overseas branch of the Chinese banks, was established in 1929.

Currently, it had over 10000 domestic operations and over 60 overseas operations. In 1994 and 1995, Bank of China became the note issuing bank in Hong Kong and Macao respectively. The Bank prepared a new strategic development plan which was approved by the Board of Directors in March 2009. Strategic Positioning: To be a large multinational banking group based on a diversified and integrated cross-border business platform, with a core business of commercial banking. Strategic Goals: To be a leading international bank delivering growth and excellence.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2018 revenue). The company has more than 90,000 employees (excluding affiliates) and serves real estate investors and occupiers through approximately 480 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. In Romania, CBRE offers an extensive range of integrated services including transaction management and coordination, project management, design and build services, property management, investment management, valuation, property rental, strategic consulting, property sales, mortgage services and development services. For more information please visit www.cbre.ro or download the application CUE by CBRE from the App Store or Google Play.