Cushman & Wakefield Echinox is counting on Romania’s potential as an investment destination

Cushman & Wakefield Echinox had another successful year in Romania, with founder Mihnea Șerbănescu highlighting the expansion of the company’s market share and the strengthening of its leading position in real estate consulting as some of the main achievements of 2023.

By Anda Sebesi

What is your leadership style and how does it support your company’s performance?

I think my leadership style has evolved throughout my professional and personal life. Now, after leading and managing this business for over 30 years, I can say that my leadership style includes different elements of several types of leadership, all of which have one thing in common: working with the team and being part of the team . . We are a team with a high degree of expertise and have built a relationship of trust with our clients by working hard and competing in a very challenging environment. All these achievements have been possible through teamwork which is based on trust, respect and responsibility. More than that, we have leaders on our team who inspire us and encourage our colleagues to be their best.

What were your main professional achievements in 2023?

We have strengthened our position as a leading real estate consulting firm by increasing our market share in all business lines and recruiting new talent to meet the needs of our clients. I would like to highlight the performance of the office department, which last year concluded some of the most important leasing transactions, positioning us at the forefront of the office leasing market in Romania, with transactions of over 120,000 sqm successfully brokered. In the retail segment, the agency brought new brands such as Jimmy Key and Wittchen to Romania, and in the industrial segment, the company remains among the top consultants. The asset services department also expanded its portfolio with new properties and new tenants, managing nearly 500,000 sq m of projects, while the valuation team assessed over 400 properties. Moreover, the project management department increased its portfolio and expanded its ecological certification services, the most important project being the eMAG portfolio in Romania and Hungary.

What were the biggest challenges your business sector faced last year and how did you overcome them?

Inflation and rising interest rates were the biggest challenges last year as both indicators put pressure on costs. In addition, the sensitive context characterized by numerous financial and geopolitical problems troubled the European Union both economically and socially. As a result, investors, tenants and developers took more cautious approaches when it came to investing in new projects or expanding their businesses and leasing new office or industrial space. However, we have managed to overcome these challenges by staying close to our customers and finding solutions that best meet their needs. We have even developed new lines of business such as landlord representation services which have complemented our office department assisting landlords and tenants with excess office space. We also brought in new people with varied skills and backgrounds to help us achieve our goals.

Goals for 2024:

• To continue developing our business
• To integrate digital solutions and a new niche of real estate consulting services
• Let’s continue to promote Romania as an investment destination and place to be for both foreign companies and domestic capital.