West Park: our next target is malls

"We are negotiating to buy two plots of land for two malls. We will also enter the office segment," Moshe Agavi, BSG's Country Manager for Romania, told Business Standard.

The company plans to invest €500 mln on the Romanian market in the coming years. The West Park investment amounts to €120 mln. BSR Europe acquired the West Park residential project for €14 mln in 2006, and once the company merged with BSG, this became the Israeli group's main project. It currently covers five hectares and has 1,400 apartments.

"In Bucharest alone there is a need for some 150,000-200,000 apartments. Moreover, foreigners believe that apartment prices in Bucharest should not be half those in the center of Europe, considering that the city is just one hour away by plane," said the BSG official. Agavi estimates that apartment prices will increase by 50 percent in the coming 3-4 years.

All the company's large projects will have 4-5 construction stages and finalizing such a project, with over 1,000 apartments, could take up to five years.