CBRE takes over the management of the U-Center 1 office building, owned by Pavăl Holding

CBRE, a global leader in real estate consultancy, has become the property manager of U-Center 1 office building, developed by Forte Partners and currently owned by Pavăl Holding. CBRE will manage all aspects of the property in relation to tenants, subcontractors, and authorities.

U-Center 1 office building, located in the first phase of a large real estate project, is the first in Romania to receive the international WELL CORE certification at the Platinum level. The project combines employee health and well-being with energy efficiency. Among the companies present in the building are Endava, Booking Holdings, UP Romania, BT Stup, and DCS Plus.

U-Center 1 has a total area of 31,000 sqm GLA and also holds LEED v4 PLATINUM certification. Located near Tineretului Park, the office building has extensive indoor and outdoor green spaces and is very well connected to all other areas of Bucharest, with rapid access to the subway. Among the facilities available to tenants are a fitness studio, a modern and flexible building management system (BMS), a hands-free access application, and a parking management system.

“U-Center 1 is the first office building in Romania to be WELL CORE v2 PLATINUM certified, which results in a high standard working environment that ensures the comfort of all employees of the companies we host. It has excellent technological facilities, and the existing fitness studio and Tineretului Park are extraordinary advantages for the well-being of those who come to the office. We rely on CBRE’s experience to manage the building and its community so that our tenants can feel the added value of operating in U-Center 1,” stated Andreea Druga, Managing Director, Dedeman Office Division.

Since taking over the administration at the beginning of the year, U-Center 1 has benefited from CBRE’s know-how and platform approach, going through processes to optimize and maximize the quality of Facility Management, Cleaning, and Security services, energy consumption efficiency, increasing waste recycling, and being assigned clear and measurable performance indicators for all of these. The U-Center 1 tenant community benefits from various events and workshops, from gardening to recycling and classical music, all accompanied by a sense of well-being in the reception and visually and audibly induced common areas.

“I have the privilege to have been given the responsibility for managing the U-Center 1 office building. Our approach is anchored in hospitality, with a clear vision of providing a level of service similar to a ‘5-star hotel experience.’ My goal is simple but fundamental: to maintain relationships with tenant companies and their employees at a very high level of excellence. Their needs and comfort are at the center of our mandate,” added Răzvan Stoica, Account Director PM Offices, CBRE Romania.

CBRE’s Property Management department in Romania manages a total of 1.2 million sqm of spaces, including 38 office buildings, as well as premium retail and residential properties.

The company provides transparency and streamlines the entire administration process, using technology for financial aspects, automating tenant service requests and forwarding them to the approved supplier list, building and managing the community and reporting.

“The value of a property manager is particularly evident in the case of buildings at two extremes – either older generation buildings with various challenges that require our experience, or recently developed buildings with the latest technology, design, and construction solutions, such as U-Center 1, which constantly challenge us to be creative and innovative in optimizing even where efficiency already exists. If we focus exclusively on the office building segment in Romania, between 18% and 23% of the total administration cost is generated by utility consumption. This leads to the need to identify first those improvements that can be implemented today. Pavăl Holding has a very clear vision of each property in the company’s portfolio, which facilitates excellent collaboration,” explained Valeriu Toma, Head of Property Management, CBRE Romania.

CBRE has been monitoring the consumption of over 10,000 buildings in its European portfolio for several years through the ESG CBRE Deepki platform. It provides an impressive amount of data that can be analyzed, ranging from a specific space in a building to a very large complex, such as a portfolio of buildings or groups of thousands of buildings. For example, ESG CBRE Deepki data showed that last year, although due to aggressive measures implemented, electricity consumption decreased on average by 27%, the cost decreased by only 3% on average, and in many cases, it even increased, due to the economic and geopolitical context.

Pavăl Holding is the largest entrepreneurial company in Romania, owning Dedeman and multiple other local investments. The company’s strategy is based on identifying investment opportunities with an impact on society beyond shareholder profits. Pavăl Holding’s investments are placed in various sectors, such as retail (DIY), real estate, private equity, agriculture, and automotive, based on long-term strategic development opportunities in diverse industries and geographic areas.

Founded in 2014 in Bucharest, Forte Partners has quickly become one of the most important real estate developers in the Romanian market. It has successfully completed and delivered state-of-the-art office buildings, such as the Ștefan cel Mare Building, and The Bridge (consisting of 3 phases), but also residential projects, such as Parcul Aviației. At the same time, the company plans to develop many other projects.