Unirii and Cocor stores in Unirii Square could be turned into offices

Unirii Square has always been a point of reference in the Capital. Cocor, Unirea, Bucharest or the former Junior stores, later transformed into a court, made the Unirii area the hot spot of retail in the 90s.

On the other hand, in recent years Unirii Square lost a series of key tenants, such as the Inditex group, Koton and Mega Image and thus lost its popularity, and the lack of investments in the area led to its degradation.

"At the moment, the building of the Cocor shopping center cannot be converted into offices because it was not designed for this purpose. In the past there were proposals for it to be replaced by an office and hotel project, a 25-story building, but the idea was not accepted. We now have 9,900 sqm of rented space, we don't have any large space available," said Aurel Beşliu, the vice-president of the board of directors of Cocor Bucharest. The Cocor store was reopened in 2010 following an extensive renovation process that cost EUR 24.5 million.

The specialists are, however, of the opinion that the 2 buildings, Cocor and Unirea, could be transformed into offices. "Considering the central position and easy access to public transport, we believe that the two buildings could be transformed into offices. It is very important to mention, however, that the two projects require significant investments in order to be converted into offices, given that the current structure does not provide the necessary conditions for office setup. We are referring here to the height, the availability of natural light, the technical equipment: elevators, HVAC systems, etc.," said Alin Obretin, senior consultant office Agency Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Source: zf.ro