The increase in the price of construction materials impacts all areas of activity, but the most affected are the developers of real estate projects, shopping malls, and retail parks. Many of them have put their investments ‘on hold’ and are waiting for sunnier days, so that they may get back in action. Until then, we will not see any new malls, except for the one from Craiova.
‘The developer there intends to open more than a shopping mall, they aim to build several anchors next to the mall itself, namely an office building, apartments, perhaps a hotel. The reasons why this expansion of shopping malls is put on hold has to do with: the continual price increases in the construction materials (approximately 30-40%), the salary increases, the lack of stocks, the market’s lack of predictability, the saturation with such malls and shopping parks. Against this background, we expect retailers and developers to adapt their portfolio of projects according to the specifics of the region and to the consumers’ financial strength, by tackling second-rank cities, until this troubled period is overcome. The potential crisis that has been heralded will be a good opportunity for the retailers and the operators of shopping centers which are active on the market to start refurbishment, redevelopment, rebranding, relocation, and repositioning works’, says Marian Ciupitu, General Manager of Terano Construct.
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