Bucharest – skyline transformation 2025 | Brisk: Invest in Romania, great potential!

28 decembrie 2020

6 minute citire

“We remain keen to continue building robust long-term partnerships with our clients and to continue adding value to their business and project through our services. The Romanian market has a huge potential and multiple investment opportunities given the current context” – Claudiu Bisnel, Managing Partner – Brisk Group.

After the evolution in the last cycle, what are the main trends you identified in the transformation of the real estate market in Romania?

The real estate and construction industry are two of the most important and essential cogs in the mechanism of the economy. The construction industry must play an important role in the revival of the economy and will remain a real and robust investment option.

Brisk Group is well equipped to respond to the new trends and requirements of the market. We have all the tools to assure the success of our clients and the effective and efficient implementation and delivery of their projects. One trend we identified and also continued to implement with our clients is increased health & safety measures, which naturally attract additional costs to projects, but are necessary especially in the context of the pandemic crisis. Also, we can see a rearrangement in prices with regards to labor (as this is more available), cost of material being influenced in close relation to transport, delivery times and production. As we are still in a transition / adaptive period, with regards to the new circumstances, created by the coronavirus pandemic, our estimation indicates a returning to normal scenario in the following months as lockdown period measures in a number of countries will be lifted gradually and the vaccine becomes widely available. We are systematically entering in a more optimistic economic period with a sensible recovery in the second quarter of 2021.

Published in an exclusive, investment destination – oriented, market tour: “Bucharest – the skyline transformation by 2025” – Read: here

What makes Brisk Group stand out from the competition and what can clients expect from Brisk in the future ahead?

Brisk Group is more than a Project Management company, more than a name or a brand. Brisk Group is a formidable team of professionals, over 50 well-trained experts who make fantastic efforts day and day out. Their dedication is what drives the company’s expansion and success. We truly believe that success comes from each of us, and excellence is not an act, but a habit, so our ideas become reality because we like to build both beautiful projects and successful partnerships.

Another important factor is that we have already invested in technology and will continue to do so. We are seeing the benefits now of having seamless processes and communication channels. You can say that we are ‘drinking our own Champaign’ when it comes to doing what we preach. We use internally state-of-the-art software and hardware equipment and that ensures a smooth, visible and cost-effective delivery of all aspects of project management. That being said, what truly sets us apart is experience and our track record of successful deliveries. A combination of hard work and experience.

How did you manage to optimize business in the challenging 2020? Which are the objectives of the management team for 2021-2022?

The construction sector has been one of the few sectors in Romania to have recorded a growth in 2020. Compared to the same period last year, the volume of construction projects in Romania was c 2% higher than last year, which is a very positive thing taking account of the circumstances. The top of the spear were engineering works as well as residential segment, with offices and non-commercial buildings seeing a smaller growth. For us, at Brisk Group, this year also meant growth. 2020 brought growth and consolidation in the market share for Brisk Group and expansion in our portfolio.

This year has come with important achievements for us consisting in a good number of projects successfully completed and delivered. Some key milestones this year for were: 450.000 sqm of managed & coordinated constructions (over 330.000 sqm residential, over 65.000 sqm of retail projects, and over 55.000 sqm of industrial & office projects) and our portfolio recorded over 100 projects. According to the latest financial report, we can easily communicate that we surpassed our performance from previous years, and we are glad that this year will end in an upward direction and we will maintain the optimistic spirit for the period 2021-2022. Our project management approach reduces risk and helps clients deliver projects in a consistent and improved manner, no matter what stage of the project life cycle we are appointed in. Robust controls maintained throughout the entire duration of the project will ensure challenges are effectively addressed to meet client time, cost, and quality objectives. Our regional opportunities target is strictly related to development trends. We noticed an increase in the last three years in the regional market, apart to the traditional development poles such as Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara, Constanta. Brisk Group has delivered projects in cities such Brasov, Ploiesti, Pitesti, Tarnaveni, Targoviste, Iasi, Sibiu, Alexandria.

For the future we remain loyal to our creed and philosophy, to be one step ahead, through top quality tailored services responding to our client needs. Innovation and digitalization of our services and of the construction site are key objectives for us. Brisk Group is always ready for new challenges and opportunities, with infrastructure in place to sustain a further organic growth of our business. We remain keen to continue building robust long-term partnerships with our clients and to continue adding value to their business and project through our services.

How do you see the market structure evolution, which sectors will emerge stronger from the crisis? How about the potential for the real estate market in Romania to generate business relevant in the region?

Construction output in Romania increased 17.30 percent in September of 2020 over the same month in the previous year. (source: EUROSTAT). We expect that construction and real estate to continue on a positive trend through next year. According to macro-economic models we know in the long-term, the Romania Construction Output is projected to trend around 5.00 percent in 2021. The Covid – 19 pandemic caused a more detailed analysis of the risks and less of the investment benefits. Reflecting on risk rather than on business benefit results in the presence of uncertainties and the postponement of planned projects.

Targeting the post-pandemic real estate investment market will depend very much on how long the pandemic will exist in the future. Referring to the situation presented for the end of 2020, in terms of return on investment, they have kept their values high and most likely they will not change in the short and medium term. Interesting and much expected changes will take place in big infrastructure public projects which we know, are key to boosting the construction sector and in fact the entire economy. These projects create traction around them, employing large number of business and people, unlocking new areas and new opportunities for business, offering connectivity, thus putting in motion the engines of the economy. Brisk Group has experience in big infrastructure projects, and we are keen to be involved and contribute. Our current experience includes involvement in big international aviation and nuclear projects.

If you were to give some advice to investors interested in the real estate market today, what would those be?

Five words: Invest in Romania, great potential! The Romanian market has a huge potential and multiple investment opportunities given the current context. With a potential market of 21 million consumers, Romania is one of the most dynamic economies in Central and Eastern Europe. Romania is strategically located at the intersection of several corridors of the region and provides access to the European market channel.

The Romanian economic environment offers to international companies the opportunity to establish here a European platform to enter new markets, internationalize its production and develop new partnerships in fields such as technology, procurement or outsourcing. The main competitive advantages of Romania compared to the other countries in which we are present is cheaper labor and the quality of human capital, low taxes, and of course potential and need for investment. Romania has a cost – effective business environment enjoying the 4th lowest gas prices and the 6th lowest electricity prices in EU and one of the fastest internet in the world, enjoying great broadband infrastructure.

A significant network of 84 industrial parks spread across the country with both private and public ownership, brigs to investor’s fingertips suitable locations with access to utilities & benefit packages according to their focus, for successful project implementation. The residential market also is effervescent and full of potential, it is important to present the right product, in general term mixed-use, with the correct facilities and amenities for its future end users. Urban regeneration, also, will play a very important role in the residential product.

Thus, today Romania is a country of quality that in the past few years has succeeded in moving forward the value chain, as some of the investors that entered the market over ten years ago with basic manufacturing are now branching out into more technologically sophisticated projects. The country stands as a true benchmark for the region, a center of clear competencies in the high technology based global market.