Timi\u0219oara, in western Romania, saw companies lease 63% of all office spaces transacted outside of Bucharest in the first three months of 2025, according to a report by Fortim Trusted Advisors, a member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance. The tech hub of Cluj-Napoca came in second, with 25% of the demand, and Ia\u0219i, with 12%.<\/p>\n
Despite the demand in these cities, the report notes a decrease in the average leased space, down to 988 sqm in the first quarter of 2025, from 1,767 sqm in the first quarter of 2024, and a 27% reduction in the volume of modern office space leased outside Bucharest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn secondary cities such as Timi\u0219oara, Cluj-Napoca, and Ia\u0219i, the office vacancy rate is lower than in the capital, which is why the relocation of a large company leads to a series of cascading transactions, with several smaller companies targeting the vacated space,\u201d said Nicolae Ciobanu, managing partner \u2013 Head of Advisory at Fortim Trusted Advisors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese tenant movements in the market offset the lack of new building deliveries in these cities during this period,\u201d he added, cited by Economedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overall, 8,807 sqm were leased in Timi\u0219oara in the first three months of 2025, compared to 8,038 sqm leased throughout all of 2024.<\/p>\n Cluj-Napoca saw six transactions carried out, with a total area of 3,417 sqm, according to the report. Last year, Cluj-Napoca was in first place in terms of office space demand, from the first to the last quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRegional centers can develop at a faster pace than Bucharest in the next two to three years, as there are several commercial projects with building permits. For example, Cluj-Napoca has the most office space set to come into the market, over 200,000 sqm, and in Timi\u0219oara approximately 30,000 sqm,\u201d said Ciobanu.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, it remains to be seen at what pace office demand will evolve, a very important factor for companies being the tax system, which will be decided in the upcoming period at the political level,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n