The real estate division of Deutsche Bank, a giant on the real estate market with almost 50 billion euros in assets, has set a new record on the Romanian market after it paid 340 million euros for the Upground project, which is under development in Northern Bucharest.
Upground will eventually include an office building and two apartment blocks, and will be developed over several stages throughout next year. The deal also includes a second office building, which will be built in the vicinity.
The project is being funded with a loan from Banca Romaneasca and is located close to Barbu Vacarescu Boulevard and Fabrica de Glucoza street, which separates the Lacul Tei area from Pipera, in the vicinity of Aurel Vlaicu metro station. Lacul Tei (Tei Lake) is a very active area residential-wise, with projects like Laguna Residence and Tei Lake Residences currently under development, while Barbu Vacarescu is seen as Bucharest's new business centre, with several towers under development. Upground is being developed on a 44,000 square metre plot of land and will comprise almost 600 homes and 100,000 square metre of office space, according to the initial statements of developers, which estimate the value of the investment at 260 million euros.
The developer is Upground Estates, controlled by British and Greek businessmen, one of whom is Ioannis Papalekas, who was once a shareholder in the City Mall Shopping Complex, through Jaguar Development.
He would retain a 22% stake in the project, said the representatives of the Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen (NNDKP), which have provided assistance to RREEF Real Estate, Deutsche Bank division, throughout the deal since last September.
The negotiations, which concluded on Friday, lasted eight months, whilst the deal was very complex and the lengthiest in the entire history of Biris Goran law firm, which
