The real estate alternative investment fund BT Property made its retail market debut this month with the acquisition of Funshop Park Turda (Cluj) from the Polish group Scallier. It is a retail park with more than 9,000 sq m of leasable area and buildings certified BREEAM to international standards.

The BT Property real estate alternative investment fund, managed by BT Asset Management SAI SA, part of the Banca Transilvania Financial Group, is intended for professional investors and is set up for an indefinite term.

On this occasion, Dan Dascăl, CEO of BT Asset Management, made a few statements to economica.net: 

• For now, we have focused on acquiring the Funshop Park Turda project through the BT Property real estate alternative investment fund, but we do not rule out extending our interest to other projects developed in the country, including by Scallier.
• The Funshop Park Turda retail park has all the right strengths: an excellent location, more than 9,000 sq m of leasable area, an optimal tenant mix and BREEAM-certified buildings. Equally important, BT Asset Management’s collaboration with Scallier on the acquisition of the retail park was very good at every stage.
• From what we see, the retail market is one of the most dynamic in Romania, with multiple avenues for expansion. It is also a sector that offers some of the most attractive yields for investors.
• We plan to expand the retail portfolio, which is one of the pillars of our growth strategy, but the amount we deploy in this direction will depend on several variables, such as market trends and investor appetite.
• The BT Property real estate alternative investment fund also holds an office building, retail space and healthcare properties. These are premium assets in Romania, with more than 40,000 sq m of leasable area. In terms of investments, we are looking at several segments — retail, special-purpose buildings (healthcare/education), office and logistics.
• As for the criteria we look at when screening a project, they relate to location, technical characteristics — where ESG plays an important role — the tenant mix and yield.