Redevco Europe is setting up a joint venture with EMCT Romania, a developer in the Romanian real estate market. The new company, to be named Romanian Retail Developments (RRD) will begin operations at the end of this month. Redevco plans to invest more than EUR 500 mln in the country over the next five years.

Redevco Europe is setting up a joint venture with EMCT Romania, a developer in the Romanian real estate market. The new company, to be named Romanian Retail Developments (RRD) will begin operations at the end of this month. Redevco plans to invest more than EUR 500 mln in the country over the next five years.

The Dutch company began exploring the Romanian real estate market in mid-2006 and opened an office in Bucharest at the beginning of 2007. Jörg Bitzer, managing director of Redevco Central Europe, said: 'Romania's commercial real estate market is booming. The fact that Romania has the lowest per capita shopping-centre space anywhere in Europe shows clearly the opportunities for high-quality shopping-centre development in this new EU market.'

The new company will focus on developing projects of 25,000-100,000 m2 across Romania's majpr cities. Jaap Gillis, chief operating officer of Redevco Europe, said: 'There is a strong synergy between our companies. Now we can combine EMCT's local knowledge with the international expertise of the Redevco team. This will give us access to the best possible local market knowledge and allow us to create the most sustainable retail developments, incorporating local needs and local market usage.'