Romania Can Absorb Another 0.8M Sqm Of Modern Retail Space - DTZ

04.13.2011 By Andrei Circhelan

Shopping center developers will mainly target Central and Eastern Europe in 2011 and 2012, while Romania could still absorb some 800,000 square meters of modern retail space, propetry consultant DTZ said Wednesday in a report.

Shopping center developers will mainly target Central and Eastern Europe in 2011 and 2012, while Romania could still absorb some 800,000 square meters of modern retail space, propetry consultant DTZ said Wednesday in a report.

"Modern retail stock per thousand inhabitants was around 64 sqm in Romania at the end of 2010, almost a quarter of the European average, which is 238 sqm. A recent DTZ Echinox analysis shows that Romania can still absorb 784,000 sqm of modern retail space before saturation, considering current stocks, the population's average income, unemployment, consumption and the statistics of other countries in the region," said Bogdan Sergentu, head of valuations and consulting at DTZ Echinox.

Romania's modern retail stock cumulated 1.38 million sqm at the end of 2010.

In its Property Times European Shopping Centre study, DTZ said it expects investors to focus on renovation and reconstruction, coupled with new mall constructions in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Russia and Turkey.

DTZ has offices in 140 cities across 42 countries in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and America.