* largest private investment in Iași in the last decade * 54,000 sqm of class A office spaces, 6,000 sqm dedicated to restaurants and services * 13 multinational companies, some opening their first office in the region * 5,000 specialists in IT & automotive * underdeveloped central area transformed into a creative and innovation hub * the only office building in the country undergoing a double green certification process * the business hub developed by IULIUS in downtown Iași now reaches 130,000 sqm of premium office space comprised in 8 buildings that accommodate 70-plus companies and 14,000 employees* half billion Euro total investments by IULIUS Company in Iași.
Tuesday, the 25th of April 2023, IULIUS Company officially opened its second major urban regeneration project in Iași. Palas Campus is the largest office building in Romania, with a leasable area of 60,000 sqm, and it entailed a capital infusion upwards of 120 million Euro. The office building is located in the Sf. Andrei area and enhances a part of the city which, although central, has not benefited from significant investments to this date. Palas Campus is the largest investment kickstarted in Romania during the pandemic, as well as the largest investment after Palas ensemble, the first mixed-use project in Romania opened in 2012, located in the immediate vicinity. To this date, IULIUS Company developed five real estate projects in Iași, which add up to 130,000 sqm of office space and 105,000 sqm of retail spaces for which it allocated half billion Euro (Palas Iași, Palas Campus, Iulius Mall Iași, Family Market Miroslava, and Family Market Bucium).
Iulian Dascălu, the President of IULIUS Company: “We kickstarted Palas Campus when we were already facing the challenges of the pandemic, in an expectant office market. We are now welcoming our partners into our new building: 13 world-renowned companies, with dedicated offices for more than 5,000 local talents in the creative and automotive industry, who are working here on programming that impacts the future of business, safety and quality of life in general. It is an attractive project, unique from many perspectives, with a mission geared towards developing and supporting the city, a strong focus on sustainability and national premieres in this direction. A project that has brought to Iași the first regional headquarters of powerful companies and supported the development of those already present in the regional business hub that has grown over the last decade in Palas Iași.”
Palas Campus is a continuation of Palas Iași, the first mixed-use urban regeneration project in Romania located in the immediate vicinity, and benefits from the multiple uses of the complex. With an investment upwards of 320 million Euro, Palas Iași means a regional business community, with 7 class A office buildings (75,000 sqm – 60 companies, 9,000 employees); the primary shopping and entertainment destination in the north-east of the country (63,000 sqm – 270 brands, services, concept restaurants and coffee shops); an urban garden spanning on 5 hectares, accommodating dozens of events every year, and leisure facilities.
In total, the business hub developed in downtown Iași by IULIUS Company via Palas Campus and Palas Iași integrates 8 buildings and 130,000 sqm of class A offices, accommodating more than 70 companies in the most dynamic and creative sectors, increasing the attractiveness of Iași City and its position as a regional leader in technology and innovation.
A total of 13 companies from the USA, Germany, France, Norway, Switzerland and Romania have set up head offices in Palas Campus; some of these companies are opening their first offices in the region, being attracted by the modern office infrastructure and the generous offer of the academic center in terms of labor supply.
In 2005, Amazon opened its first dedicated research and development center in Eastern Europe in Iasi, Romania. Amazon has been a tenant of Palas complex since 2010 and is now bringing together its employees in the city under the same roof.
Cristian Josan, General Manager of Amazon Development Center Romania: “This new office will be a hub of innovation for more than 2,000 colleagues inventing exciting new technologies in cloud computing, machine learning, information security, and data analysis. This state-of-the-art campus will be a fantastic home for us in Iași, and is another milestone in our commitment to Romania.”
5,000 people working in Palas Campus
Palas Campus is fully leased and includes multinational companies in industries such as IT, automotive and insurance, adding up to more than 5,000 employees:
Amazon Development Center Romania – the research and development center of Amazon
AMD – Advanced Micro Devices – American semiconductor company designing high-performance and adaptive computing solutions
Allianz-Ţiriac – part of the German group Allianz, the most valuable insurance brand in the world
Cognizant Softvision – one of Romania’s largest software engineering employers and part of global professional and IT services company Cognizant
Expleo – global engineering, technology and consulting company headquartered in France
HELLA România – international automotive supplier under the umbrella brand FORVIA
HEITS.digital – Cluj based tech start-up, specializing in AI and Machine Learning solutions
HTEC Group – a global consulting, software engineering, and digital product development company
Microsoft – American company, the world’s largest software producer
Profidata Dev – Swiss company delivering software solutions and services for the financial industry
Safeguard Global – American company specializing in HR and payroll services
Visma Software Romania – (company originating in Norway) supplier of software products for the automation and management of business processes
Bandwidth – global communications company
Palas Campus comprises six building blocks with a vertical structure spanning maximum 6 floors, connected on the ground floor level and on the first three floors, with a leasable area of 60,000 sqm, spread horizontally, of which 54,000 sqm of office premises and 6,000 sqm of retail premises. The campus is designed as an integrated mixed-use project, with the ground floor including restaurants, coffee shops, a supermarket, a gym, a medical center, and an area for services.
Double green certification and photovoltaic panels
Similarly to other urban regeneration projects developed by IULIUS Company, Palas Campus has a strong green footprint. In 2021, the building obtained the first green loan granted to a Romanian company by the IFC (International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group), in the amount of 72 million Euro.
Palas Campus was built in line with the highest sustainability standard principles applicable to green buildings, being the only project in Romania to undergo a double green certification process:
EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) by the IFC – certifies the achievement of resource saving and operating efficiency parameters;
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by the US Green Building Council – certifies the sustainability in design, construction and operation.
The green terraces fitted atop the fourth floor are another premiere. Palas Campus also benefits from more than 1,200 photovoltaic panels installed on the roof, with a 500 kWp installed capacity.
Other green features that support the sustainability of Palas Campus:
More than 4,500 sqm of green spaces, a 2.8 million Euro investment
More than 200 trees planted and 7,000 shrubs
Approximately 650 meters of bicycle lanes
Circa 500 bicycle parking spaces and six changing rooms fitted with showers
16 charging stations for electric vehicles
Alternative mobility solutions and underground parking
The tenants in Palas Campus have access to an underground parking lot with 625 parking spaces, spanning on two levels, which entailed an investment upwards of 33 million Euro.
Five adjacent streets were either widened or upgraded (Sf. Andrei, Trei Ierarhi, Iancu Bacalu, Buznea, Tănăsescu) in order to enhance connectivity in the Sf. Andrei area. A new one-way traffic arterial, set to connect Anastasie Panu Boulevard and Sf. Andrei Street is currently under development. The new street will be 220 meters long and will include two traffic lanes. More than 4.5 million Euro were allotted for the infrastructure works.
The investment in Palas Campus will generate more than 780,000 Euro every year from building and land taxes. At the same time, the direct contributions to the state budget during the works added up to approximately 1.3 million Euro in the form of taxes, authorizations and permits.
Palas Campus is part of a broader plan to reconfigure the Sf. Andrei area. IULIUS Company will continue the urban regeneration in downtown Iași with the project resulting from the international architecture competition organized in 2022, as well as with other meaningful investments.
About Palas Iași
Palas Campus is the continuation of the urban regeneration investment endeavors in downtown Iași initiated by IULIUS Company by opening Palas Iași, the first mixed-use complex in Romania, back in 2012.
Palas Iași, the complex in the immediate vicinity of the new project, is a 320-plus million Euro investment, which had a major impact on the economic, tourist and social development of the city and the entire region. Palas Iași is a business hub comprising seven class A office buildings (more than 75,000 sqm * 60 companies * 9,000 employees), the largest shopping destination in the north-east of Romania (more than 63,000 sqm * 270 stores * themed restaurants and coffee shops), event center with four premium halls, 4 star hotel, park spanning on 50,000 sqm, carousel, seasonal skating rink and other leisure facilities, as well as the largest underground parking facility in Romania (2,500-plus parking spaces). The novel and complex blend of shopping and entertainment draws more than 20 million visitors to Palas every year, including visitors from the Republic of Moldova.
About IULIUS
IULIUS Company is the only developer and operator of mixed-use urban regeneration projects in Romania, with more than 25 years of real estate experience and operating in four major Romanian cities, namely Iași, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, and Suceava. The investments made in Romania add up to more than 1.2 billion Euro.
The company portfolio comprises more than 310,000 sqm of retail premises in two mixed-use urban regeneration projects (Palas Iași and Iulius Town Timișoara), the only ones of this kind in Romania, the nationwide network of regional shopping malls (Iulius Mall – Iași, Cluj-Napoca, and Suceava), and the Family Market projects in Iași (Miroslava and Bucium). The projects are regional market leaders and draw more than 70 million visitors every year.
In just 10 short years, IULIUS came into prominence as one as the most active developers and operators of class A office buildings, creating regional business hubs and multinational creative communities under the United Business Center national brand in three major academic centers in Romania: Iași, Timișoara, and Cluj-Napoca. In total there are 15 green buildings with a total area upwards of 242,000 sqm, accommodating more than 80 companies and 25,000-plus employees.
The projects developed by IULIUS are sustainable concepts and the only ones to integrate extensive gardens, bringing nature close to the people, in the heart of their cities.