ROMANIA In the first half of the year, the amount of co-working space across the country grew by 42 pct, reaching almost 68,000 sqm - according to real estate consultancy Crosspoint. Bucharest is the main market for co-working space, with a 79 pct share in total. In H1 2018, shared spaces operators leased more than 24,000 sqm in Bucharest, the third highest of any type of occupier, after the IT&C and energy sectors. The capital city is the favoured market for international players within this segment, while the owners of co-working hubs in the regional cities are mainly young, local entrepreneurs. The flexible offices concept debuted on the Romanian market in 1998, when Belgian group Regus opened its first location in Bucharest. Between 2008 and 2017, the total surface occupied by co-working operators grew from a little over 2,500 sqm to over 39,000 sqm and expanded into regional cities such as Cluj-Napoca and Iași. Compared to other CEE markets such as Poland (with 340 co-working locations) and the Czech Republic (112), the Romanian co-working market (with 80 co-working locations) still has some way to go to catch up. According to Crosspoint, in less than a year, the proportion of the total office stock occupied by co-working operators in Romania grew from 1 pct to 2 pct - and the trend continues to rise. RO
The co-working sector is expanding rapidly in Romania , with 79% growth across the country in the first half of the year reaching almost 68,000 sq m. Bucharest is the hub of the country’s co-working industry with a 79% market share. Operators leased more than 24,000 sq m in the capital in H1 , according to real-estate firm Bucharest . The flexible office concept debuted in Romania in 1998 when Iași opened its third centre in the capital.