Westhill exits Romania, in spite of €500 mln projects

“I no longer work for Westhill since March. I decided to take a break, and now I am on vacation. Anyway, the company’s projects are frozen. There is only one person left in Romania, in charge with administration. We were four people, on the whole,” the former Manager of Westhill Romania, Andrei Pănculescu, told Business Standard.

The British company paid a total of €14 million for a 10 hectare plot of land in Ploieşti in 2006. The land was later on acquired by Lewis Charles, which was to come with the funds necessary for the development of a shopping center in partnership with Westhill. However, in March 2009, the investment fund sold the project to the Irish Blackpearl Property enterprise, for a modest amount. “Indeed, the land and the project in Ploieşti were sold and the company remained with a plot of land with a project in Târgovişte [northwest of Bucharest]. At present, I am waiting. I may return to this industry and even my former job, if Westhill decides to continue its projects,” Pănculescu added.

The Zenith mall, whose total development cost was initially estimated at €140 mln, was to have a leasable surface exceeding 58,000 sqm. Westhill planned to acquire a further six hectares of land in Ploieşti, where it intended to develop a mixed project, with housing units and offices. The cost of this project was estimated at €100 mln. The company was also planning to build three malls, of which two in Romania and one in Bulgaria.