Eastern Europe On The Rise: Romania’s Second Largest City Welcomes First Green Luxury Residential Development
Cluj-Napoca, the second most populous city in Romania, is about to get its first green luxury residential project: the 91-unit Riviera Luxury Residence condominium tower.
By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor
Cluj-Napoca, Romania – Cluj-Napoca, the second most populous city in Romania, is about to get a new green luxury residential project: the 91-unit Riviera Luxury Residence (Riviera residence) condominium tower.
Located only five minutes from the Cluj-Napoca CBD, the approximately $13.6 million (€10 million) project is targeting young couples and households with children with its bevy of amenities and advantageous location that has all the prerequisites to ensure a live-work-play lifestyle.
Developed on 35,348 square feet of land, the 159,844-square-foot project will comprise 91 residential units, a 5,262-square-foot spa, a two-story, 93-car underground parking facility and two ground-level commercial units featuring 1,253 and 1,394 square feet of space.
The 10-story development will comprise 42 two-bedroom units ranging between 484 and 667 square feet, 41 three-bedroom units ranging between 850 and 1,076 square feet and eight four-bedroom units ranging between 1,292 and 1,776 square feet. All units will feature open, American-style kitchens, walk-in closets, expansive balconies offering panoramic views of the city and a nearby lake and park, while ground-floor units will include generously sized private gardens. With energy efficiency also being a major part of Riviera Luxury Residences, all apartments feature an energy switch that allows residents to cut off power from all household appliances (except refrigerators) before leaving home.
Community amenities include a 5,262-square-foot spa featuring a fitness center and indoor swimming pool, landscaped green spaces, children’s playground, 24-hour manned security, key-card and intercom access to the building and all communal spaces as well video camera surveillance of all common areas, including the two the parking decks. The community will also have an onsite caretaker round the clock, 24-hour maintenance, professional landscaping and cleaning services for all community spaces. The project will also feature a ground-floor coffee shop.
Riviera Residence is located 300 feet away from one of the biggest commercial centers of the city, Iulius Mall, which houses an Auchan grocery hypermarket, a 12-screen theater, a medical clinic, a multitude of local, national and international retailers such as H&M, Tommy Hilfiger and Swarovski and a bevy of cafes, restaurants and a food court as well as a multi-story office component. The community is also only 300 feet away from a recently overhauled public park and lake and is adjacent to one of the most sought-after colleges in the country, the Babeş-Bolyai University’s Faculty of Economical Sciences and Business Management. A kindergarten and prestigious school are also located in the vicinity. The city’s historic center is at only seven minutes distance, while the Avram Iancu International Airport is only 10 minutes away.
Riviera Residence is also a green project, implementing sustainable practices, systems and materials to ensure a comfortable, healthy environment for its residents. Among them are the use energy efficient materials, solar panels, recycling and immediate proximity to mass transit.
The project has received Class A energy certification and seeks to achieve BREEAM Excellent – making it one of the first green residential projects in Transylvania. As a result, owners will benefit from a 50 to 75 percent property tax deduction on units. Furthermore, it is estimated that the annual heating costs for a three-bedroom, 860-square-foot unit will not surpass $340.
Riviera Residence is being developed by local developer I&C Transilvania Constructii with Hungarian general contractors Kész Építő és Szerelő Zrt. Local architecture firm ARHIMAR and project manager CS Invest Consulting are also involved in the project. Coldwell Banker Transilvania is the exclusive sales broker of Riviera Residence. Pricing is confidential. The project is expected to complete in September 2014.
“Five years into the economic recovery, the real estate market in Cluj-Napoca has finally started to improve. The first quarter of 2014 has seen important growth in all sectors of the industry,” says Anamaria Burca, managing partner at the Coldwell Banker brokerage office in Cluj. “The local housing market has increased by almost 20 percent over the past 12 months. As the multifamily market tries to accommodate an influx of new residents to the area, construction activity is picking up as well, with a large number of apartment units currently underway.”
“As one of the strongest markets in Romania, second only to Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca attracts an increasing number investors who seek to capitalize on the strong demand for market-rate housing–both condos and rental apartments,” Burca adds.
For more info on Central and Eastern Europe’s real estate market read our EXPOReal report here.