Belgian company Liebrecht & wooD, which owns the Fashion House outlet-type centre at the exit from Militari, Bucharest to Pitesti, has bought some 60 hectares of land in three areas of the city this year, for which it paid more than 30 million euros of its own money.
The Belgians, which have sold the retail park Militari Shopping and the Victoria Park office buildings in Baneasa for some 80 million euros over the past few years, are among the few investors which are now swimming against the tide, buying land when no one believes prices have reached bottom yet.
"We bought 60 hectares of land at the exits from Bucharest for retail projects and for building a new outlet. I can say we paid 60 euros per square metre on average. The prices were reasonable, not 50% discounts, because such discounts are only offered for poor quality land," Johan Rogers, one of the founders and shareholders of the Belgian company told ZF.
He says he established closed-end fund Liebrecht & wooD Investment Fund, in which he got external investors to invest. The fund will be used to invest in Poland, Russia and Romania, with the start-up capital exceeding 100 million euros.
"There is so much money on the market, and people do not know how to invest it. As far as I know, savings have never reached this level in Europe and bank deposits do not generate satisfactory yields, while stock markets and bonds are not completely safe. Romania will surely rebound," Rogiers says, explaining his decision to buy on this market.
People involved in real estate say almost everything on this market is up for sale at the moment, but there are no buyers. However, transactions are few and far between and Rogiers would not disclose the names of the owners from whom he bought the land.
"I bought from small owners, investors and development companies. The last few years' proble
