LULIUS AND ATTERBURY EUROPE – BUILDING COMMINITIES TOGETHER

Founded in 1991, Iulius is the only developer and operator of mixed-use projects in Romania, with an operational portfolio that includes more than 260 000 sqm of retail and 121 000 sqm of office premises.

It is the market leader in four of the most important academic cities in Romania and has succeeded in building brands that equal excellence and unique destinations for tens of millions of customers. The company has supported dozens of successful entrepreneurs and built an impeccable reputation in the real-estate market across Europe. Most importantly, it has fundamentally improved the local communities it’s part of, bringing massive innovation.

Over the past two decades Iulius has lived up to its visionary reputation, introducing radical changes in the Romanian real-estate market, developing the country’s first ever mixed-use urban project and the first mall outside of Bucharest.

Its developments all share three main characteristics: only core downtown locations in each of the targeted cities; dominance on a regional level, targeting areas with up to 2 million inhabitants; and an element of mixed use, integrating office areas, services and parks. More than being simple shopping centres, Iulius developments become centres of business, entertainment and recreation.

The national Iulius Mall chain includes four regional shopping malls (in the cities of Iasi, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca and Suceava), as well as the mixed-use project Palas Iasi. With a total annual footfall of more than 66 million visitors, Iulius is a market leader on regional level.

Iulius is also among the most prominent developers and operators of office premises, having ten A-class buildings integrated into mixed-use projects, all built according to LEED standards under the United Business Center brand. The synergy among the various uses of the projects and their unique character have helped create Romania’s most modern workplaces, hosting the headquarters of more than 50 international companies, and housing more than 12 000 employees.

It was with a view to strengthening its leadership position in the Romanian market that Iulius entered into a strategic joint-venture agreement with Atterbury Europe in 2017. A joint financial fund was developed with equal shareholding (50/50) with the mixed-use project Openville Timisoara as its first project, and other projects to be launched soon. This partnership also supports the strategy to strengthen the Iulius Mall chain with 50/50 shareholding in the regional malls in Iasi, Timisoara, Cluj and Suceava.

Says Iulian Dascalu, president of Iulius, “We have always been dedicated to building landmark regional projects for the sustainable development of the communities, and the agreement with Atterbury Europe plays an important role in the acceleration of this strategy. Our partnership combines our know-how and dominant position on the Romanian market, with the financial power and experience in property management of this prestigious international group. We share the same vision in business and are certain that together we will strengthen our development strategy, bringing added value to the portfolio and implementing new landmark projects.”

The partnership will allow both parties to make the best use, much faster, of the opportunities offered by the Romanian market, which is currently undergoing accelerated growth.

Both companies share the same business vision, a similar organisational culture and, above all, the same mission: to create landmark projects and to add value to the cities in which they operate. Under the guidance of their founders Iulian Dascalu and Louis van der Watt, the entrepreneurial spirit of innovation of these two partner companies will write a successful history together.  There is still plenty to do and to build.