TOP OFFICES IN THE COUNTRY 2013: Cluj-Napoca took first place, followed by Iasi and Sibiu

• RECORD GROWTH: In 2013, the country rented twice as many offices as in 2011 and four times more than in 2012
• The largest transaction outside the Capital took place in Cluj-Napoca. It was 5,220 sq m. It was rented by Endava and concluded in the last quarter of 2013

1. RECORD GROWTH: In 2013, the country rented twice as many offices as in 2011 and more than four times as much as in 2012

In 2013, outside the Capital, office spaces totaling 23,218 sq m were rented, more than four times more than in 2012 (when 4,958 sq m were leased in total) and twice as much as in 2011 (when the previous record was registered, with 10,572 sqm).

The tenants (mostly in the IT&C field) chose newly built buildings, at high standards, such as United Business Center Tower and Cluj Business Center in Cluj-Napoca, United Business Center in Iasi, Sibiu Business Center (in Sibiu) and Fructus Plaza, from Timisoara (where no more and no less than six tenants moved in 2013, in the fields of IT&C and Professional Services).

“Most companies that opened offices in major cities in the country in 2013 are in the field of IT & C (57%), followed by the fields of Professional Services and Financial Services, which account for about 20% of transactions,” says Alexandru Petrescu, Managing Partner ESOP Consulting l CORFAC International.

The increase in the number and volume of transactions concluded outside the Capital is due, on the one hand, to the personnel limitations faced by IT&C companies in their expansions on the Bucharest market and on the other side to the increase of the offer of quality office spaces in the big cities and also developed university centers, with good training of the workforce, including for the IT&C field.

Fourth quarter evolution: Large clients, IT&C companies chose Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara

Thus, in the last quarter of 2013, all five companies that moved to offices in Cluj Napoca (Endava, SAP Romania) and Timisoara (ZTE, Tibco, and Haufe Lexware) – the cities with the most significant transactions at the end of the year – had as the object of activity IT&C.

2. The largest office transaction outside Bucharest in 2013 was the rental of a space of 5,220 sq m in the United Business Center Tower building, in Cluj-Napoca, by the IT&C company Endava.

This also led to a change in the ranking of the top cities in the country for office rental: if at the end of the third quarter on the first place is the city of Iasi, on two Sibiu and the third place Cluj-Napoca, at the end of the year on the first place Cluj-Napoca.

Among the companies that opened offices in university centers in the country in the fourth quarter of 2013 are Endava, SAP Romania, Tibco, Haufe Lexware, and ZTE.

“It should be noted that 2013 showed a more pronounced trading pace in Cluj-Napoca (9,609 sqm), a university center with a tradition in Romania, and the rest was a relatively balanced distribution of transactions between the other three major cities in competition – Iasi, Sibiu and Timisoara, where total leases between 3,900 and 5,000 sqm were registered”, adds Alexandru Petrescu, Managing Partner of ESOP Consulting | CORFAC International.