In 2024, nationwide, companies leased modern office space outside Bucharest with a total area of 63,024 sqm, including both new office space leases and contract renegotiations, according to an analysis conducted by Fortim Trusted Advisors, a member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance, based on data collected at the real estate agency forum. First place in the top is the university center of Cluj-Napoca.
The companies that chose the city of Cluj-Napoca occupied a total area of 48,008 sqm, which represents three quarters of the total leased area outside Bucharest. The office market in Cluj-Napoca grew fourfold in 2024, compared to 2023, unlike Bucharest, where it contracted slightly.
Among the companies that rented offices are Betfair, Orange, Banca Transilvania, Yopeso, Deloitte, Endava, Nestle, Medlife, SAP.
“Cluj-Napoca is the second largest office market in Romania, after Bucharest, in terms of demand recorded in 2024. Timisoara is in second place and Brasov has risen to third place, as a result of the new deliveries of spaces in the Coresi Business Campus complex. In 2025, we expect these three local markets to continue to perform,” said Nicolae Ciobanu, Managing Partner – Head of Advisory at Fortim Trusted Advisors, a member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance.
Timisoara retained its second place in terms of demand for new office space in 2024 as well, but with a decreasing rental volume compared to 2023.
In Iasi, last year there was a decrease in transactions, amid the lack of deliveries of new office buildings.
The second year of growth, after the pandemic, of the total area of new office transactions in Cluj-Napoca
In total, the area of the office spaces where the companies extended their lease agreements was larger than that of the new spaces, where other tenants will enter: 26,957 sqm, versus 21,051 sqm.
“The quality of state-of-the-art office buildings in secondary cities is the same as in Bucharest, but rents are 20-25% lower, which leads to an increased interest in these local markets.
In 2024, our company assisted three lease transactions in Cluj-Napoca and one in Brasov, tenants including Orange, Square Venture and Finshape, in office buildings such as Maestro Business Center and Hexagon Offices in Cluj-Napoca and Coresi Business Campus in Brasov. This year too, we have requests for space, for offices but also for services on the ground floor of office buildings, especially for the cities of Cluj-Napoca, Brasov and Timisoara“, says Nicolae Ciobanu, Managing Partner – Head of Advisory at Fortim Trusted Advisors, a member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance.
