Oracle Signs 200,000 SF Lease at Under-Construction Office Park in Romanian Capital
With CEO Larry Ellison putting the finishing touches on his Hawaiian island acquisition, Oracle has not put its international expansion on the back burner.
By Alex Girda, Associate Editor
Bucharest, Romania—With CEO Larry Ellison putting the finishing touches on his Hawaiian island acquisition, Oracle has not put its international expansion on the back burner. On the contrary, the Redwood, Calif.-based tech giant has only recently committed to a 215,000-square foot, 10-year lease in a currently under construction office complex in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. Developed by Portland Trust at the outskirts of the South-Eastern European city, Floreasca Park is one of a number of constructions the company has handled in the area.
Having previous experience in the office and retail development markets of the former Eastern Block, Portland Trust has only recently broken ground on its latest project. Floreasca Park is a 400,000-square foot office complex made up of two buildings, one of which has already been leased by Oracle. Portland Trust acquired the 5-acre piece of land back in 2010 from a local landowner. After going through the initial development process, Portland received its final authorization for the complex in February 2012. Construction on the site began in May, shortly after the company decided on local contractor Bog’Art.
The 70 million Euro, or $86 million, project’s second building is also finding interest with investors, with 21,000 square feet of space already leased and an additional 75,000 SF currently the subject of advanced negotiations. Depending on the success of the two office buildings, the project will include a second phase of construction that will provide an additional 540,000 square feet of leasable space. Floreasca Park was designed by architecture firm Chapman Taylor, traditionally in charge of designing Portland Trust’s developments, while exclusive listing rights have been awarded to The Advisers/Knight Frank real estate brokerage and consulting firm.
The project, bearing a late 2013 deadline, will be built bearing in mind a number of environmental technologies, with heating and cooling handled by the use of geothermal energy. Solar power was considered a less efficient route for this particular project that will operate at 30 percent less cost than a conventional office building of its size. The project is being developed bearing in mind the BREEAM Excellent rating concerning sustainable constructions. BREEAM is a leading design and assessment method currently used for the evaluation of more than 200,000 buildings worldwide.
