People of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox
Bucharest, September 2019: The One Cotroceni Park project, developed by One United Properties in Bucharest on a 5.8 hectares land plot, will give a new dimension to the Work – Live – Shop concept on the local market, offering a 15,000 square meters retail area, comparable to that of a medium-sized shopping center, to the future employees and residents who will live within the project.
The project developed by One United Properties will consist of nine blocks with around 800 apartments and offices with a rentable area of approximately 80,000 square meters, the spaces on the ground floor of the buildings being mainly allocated to the retail area.
One United has appointed the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company as the strategic consultant to define the concept of the retail area and implement the rental strategy of the commercial spaces.
Bogdan Marcu, Retail Agency Partner, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox: “Together with One United Properties, we aim to transform the former Ventilatorul platform into a modern urban landscape and to give a new dimension to the mixed-use projects located in an important city location. One Cotroceni Park will benefit from a retail area of 15,000 square meters, representing over 10% of the total built area, which will serve both the approximately 10,000 people who will work and live in the project, as well as the residents of the Cotroceni – 13 Septembrie area, through a new set of concepts and facilities specially designed for this location.”
On average, the office developers in Bucharest allocate 5-6% of the space to the retail and services areas, a percentage considered insufficient by a significant number of employees. According to the recent Cushman & Wakefield Echinox Working Habits & Commuting Patterns study, only 27% of the employees working in modern office buildings in Bucharest are satisfied with the retail area and services near the workplace, as they consider that more restaurants and coffee shops are needed (37% of respondents), fitness centers and sports venues (26%) and supermarkets (24%).
Located on Progresului Street, opposite to the future Academia Militară metro station, One Cotroceni Park will revitalize a former industrial area in the middle of the Capital, taking into account that important objectives are located within one kilometer from the project such as The Cotroceni Palace, The Botanical Garden, The Military Academy, The Palace of Parliament or the JW Marriott Hotel.
The first phase of the project, which will consist of the development of the office component and the related retail spaces, will start in the upcoming weeks, while the construction of the residential component of the project is planned for the autumn of 2020.
Alexandra Grigoras, Leasing & Marketing Manager, One Office, One United Properties office division: “We want the development on the former Ventilatorul platform to become one of the major points of interest in the central area of Bucharest. The retail component is therefore extremely important and we are working with the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox team to draft and implement the best concept for this area.”
Cushman & Wakefield Echinox is a leading real estate consulting company on the local market, operating in all real estate market segments. The company’s retail agency has rented spaces with a cumulative area of over 30,000 square meters in the last two years in retail projects in Bucharest and the country. In regards to the office segment, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has rented spaces for retailers and operators in the Food & Beverage sector in buildings such as The Bridge (14th Lane), Aviators 8 (5ENSI), Campus 6 (Starbucks), America House (Cărturești), Bucharest Business Park (Carrefour Market) or Orhideea Towers (Carrefour Market).
Cushman & Wakefield, one of the global leaders in commercial real estate services, with 51,000 employees in over 70 countries and $ 8.2 billion in revenue, provides asset and investment management consulting services, capital markets, leasing, administration properties, tenant representation, design and evaluation services. For more information, visit www.cwechinox.com.
One United Properties is one of the most active real estate developers in Bucharest. Founded in 2007 by Victor Capitanu and Andrei Diaconescu, One United Properties is known for projects such as One Floreasca Lake, One Herastrau Park, One Charles de Gaulle or One Herastrau Plaza. The One Office department was established in 2017, and has a portfolio of 35,000 square meters (the One North Gate business park and the One Victoriei Center building, the former Bucharest Corporate Center) and a pipeline of 150,000 square meters (One Tower, part of One Floreasca City, One Cotroceni Park and One Verdi Park). For the new projects, the strategy is to develop communities in mixed-use concepts, while for the existing portfolio the owner is planning new investments to improve the product to the present standards.
