AFI Europe buys Brasov site for new 56,000m2 mixed-use project

CEE developer AFI Europe has agreed to purchase a 40,000 m2 plot in the city center of the Romanian city of Brasov with the aim of developing a shopping centre with adjacent office scheme on the site.

'Brasov is the main tourist destination in Romania, attracting 1.5 million tourists a year, and the city has a large number of inhabitants with above-average spending power,' commented said David Hay, CEO AFI Europe Romania.

AFI Europe plans to develop a shopping mall with a gross leasable area of 45,000 m2 spread over three levels and including a food court and a cinema.

The company said it is in advanced discussions with a hypermarket chain and a number of fashion retailers to anchor the project. The project, which will target a LEED Gold environmental rating, is scheduled to open in October 2017.

On the same plot, the company will also develop a class A office project of 11,000 m2.

This is the third shopping mall AFI Europe is developing in Romania, after AFI Palace Cotroceni, an 81,000 m2 development in Bucharest, and the 33,000 m2 AFI Palace Ploiesti.

In Romania the company is also building AFI Park, which consists of five office buildings with a total gross leasable area of over 70,000 m2. The first three buildings were 100% let at delivery and the remaining two buildings are scheduled for delivery at the beginning of 2016.