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As EU date nears, Bucharest shakes off a drab image By Roxana Popescu, International Herald Tribune MAY 6, 2005 BUCHAREST Cristina Tutan sighed as she drove up to the Stirbei Palace, a villa in the city center that had been on the market for more than a year. "It's falling to pieces," Tutan said as she stepped into the foyer. That was putting it gently. The neo-Classical mansion, built in 1835 and seized by the Communist government in 1940, had been neglected for decades. What remained was a carcass: smashed floor mosaics, rotting wood and layers of dust. Yet Tutan, a real estate agent who specializes in luxury properties, recently sold the property for €3.5 million, or $4.5 million, to a Romanian. (Real estate transactions in Bucharest are expressed in euros, rather than Romanian leus.) She had banked on the allure of the villa's history and Bucharest's potential as an "it" city - and her gamble paid off. Long considered a step behind its Western neighbors, this capital of two million people has struggled to shake off its reputation as a gritty den of corruption. Its success may have been gradual until recently but, as the large digital clock in Piata Universitatii, the university square, counts down to Jan. 1, 2007, the country's target date for entering the European Union, the change is accelerating by the day. Cafés and restaurants with global flavors have been opening in every neighborhood, glamorous new hotels have appeared with galleries of boutiques, and plans are under way to revitalize Lipscani, a drab but bustling neighborhood with cobblestone streets and antique shops that eventually could anchor the city's historic district. "Bucharest will be, whether you like it or not, a grand city," declared Artur Silvestri, a real estate agent and the editor of Casa Lux magazine. "Whoever is smart puts money into this country before integration. A foreigner at the present moment should hurry. If he didn't come until now, that was a mistake, but there's still time." (Anyone is allowed to buy buildings in Romania, although only citizens or legal entities like corporations can buy undeveloped land.) In 2004, prices rose 65 percent for land and 40 percent for residential properties, primarily because of growing demand from both Romanians and foreigners, Tutan said. Another factor was an increase in bank financing, which made it easier for Romanians of all income levels to buy homes, according to a yearly market overview by Eurisko Consulting, a real estate company. While the city's suburbs are acquiring slick new apartments and American-style developments with names like Washington Residence, a few Romanians and many more foreigners are eyeing the city's old housing stock. These villas, concentrated in the city center and in the exclusive northern district, date from the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, a time when the city was known as Little Paris. Many emulate French fin-de-siècle architecture, but the more distinctive ones feature the carved stone garlands and arched loggias of the local neo-Romanian style. Villas start at about 1,000 square meters, or 10,800 square feet, with a basement, an attic and two or three floors of living space. They typically have living and dining rooms, a kitchen, four or five bedrooms, two bathrooms on each floor and often a music room or morning sitting room. This is a city of startling, and sometimes poignant, contrasts - where small churches are flanked by massive Communist-era buildings and the traffic stops for nothing but the increasingly rare horse-drawn cart. The treatment of these properties has been no exception. Along Calea Victoriei, a thoroughfare lined with villas, including the Stirbei Palace, it seems as if the restoration fairy has waved her wand most haphazardly. Some buildings are sparkling clean, a few are covered in scaffolding and many are still in shambles. The disparate conditions are the result of the former government's reluctance to return properties confiscated during the Communist era, leading to a backlog of thousands of requests. The new government, led by President Traian Basescu, has promised to process the unresolved cases and to clean up the judicial system, so some villas eventually may go on the market. But for now, the supply is limited, agents said. Still, the real value is in the dilapidated properties because, in Romania, repairs are rarely guaranteed, so buying a renovated villa can be risky. Making sure a building is earthquake-safe is a priority. "I have always been of the principle that when you're buying an old house, a house with a biography, you have to buy it unrenovated," Silvestri said. "Then, it is sincere. It talks to you, it tells you everything you need to hear." He sees a gaping difference between these historic homes and the city's new suburbs. "We may call them luxury neighborhoods, but that's no luxury," Silvestri said. "They're uncomfortable, new, shiny. But not luxury. Then, there's an authentic luxury market, and these are the old buildings." But authentic luxury does not come cheap. Rents for renovated villas are €4,000 to €15,000 per month along the ultra-exclusive Soseaua Kiseleff, a broad, tree-lined avenue. Homes for sale in the same area range from €1,200 to €2,000 per square meter, according to Eurisko. Prices, which are considerably lower in other areas, vary with a building's dimensions, age, neighborhood, condition and lot size. "Costs are high for Romania, but they aren't so high for Europe," said Tutan, who charges 1.5 percent commission on residential transactions. Adela Stan, a Romanian who bought a 1,400-square-meter unrenovated villa for €1.5 million in December, said she sensed it was the right time to act. "I saw how prices were skyrocketing," she said. "Our money was sitting in the bank, and everyone around us was buying." A week after closing the deal on the 1921 structure, another interested buyer called with an offer. While most foreigners in Bucharest work for embassies or multinational corporations, some second-home buyers have started trickling in. "Those personally invested in business here come for work," "Few people come to just live in Bucharest," said Despina Ponomarenco of Eurisko. "But it's a category that's developing. It's cheap, safe and it's interesting. Charming." BUCHAREST Cristina Tutan sighed as she drove up to the Stirbei Palace, a villa in the city center that had been on the market for more than a year. "It's falling to pieces," Tutan said as she stepped into the foyer. That was putting it gently. The neo-Classical mansion, built in 1835 and seized by the Communist government in 1940, had been neglected for decades. What remained was a carcass: smashed floor mosaics, rotting wood and layers of dust. Yet Tutan, a real estate agent who specializes in luxury properties, recently sold the property for €3.5 million, or $4.5 million, to a Romanian. (Real estate transactions in Bucharest are expressed in euros, rather than Romanian leus.) She had banked on the allure of the villa's history and Bucharest's potential as an "it" city - and her gamble paid off. Long considered a step behind its Western neighbors, this capital of two million people has struggled to shake off its reputation as a gritty den of corruption. Its success may have been gradual until recently but, as the large digital clock in Piata Universitatii, the university square, counts down to Jan. 1, 2007, the country's target date for entering the European Union, the change is accelerating by the day. Cafés and restaurants with global flavors have been opening in every neighborhood, glamorous new hotels have appeared with galleries of boutiques, and plans are under way to revitalize Lipscani, a drab but bustling neighborhood with cobblestone streets and antique shops that eventually could anchor the city's historic district. "Bucharest will be, whether you like it or not, a grand city," declared Artur Silvestri, a real estate agent and the editor of Casa Lux magazine. "Whoever is smart puts money into this country before integration. A foreigner at the present moment should hurry. If he didn't come until now, that was a mistake, but there's still time." (Anyone is allowed to buy buildings in Romania, although only citizens or legal entities like corporations can buy undeveloped land.) In 2004, prices rose 65 percent for land and 40 percent for residential properties, primarily because of growing demand from both Romanians and foreigners, Tutan said. Another factor was an increase in bank financing, which made it easier for Romanians of all income levels to buy homes, according to a yearly market overview by Eurisko Consulting, a real estate company. While the city's suburbs are acquiring slick new apartments and American-style developments with names like Washington Residence, a few Romanians and many more foreigners are eyeing the city's old housing stock. These villas, concentrated in the city center and in the exclusive northern district, date from the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, a time when the city was known as Little Paris. Many emulate French fin-de-siècle architecture, but the more distinctive ones feature the carved stone garlands and arched loggias of the local neo-Romanian style. Villas start at about 1,000 square meters, or 10,800 square feet, with a basement, an attic and two or three floors of living space. They typically have living and dining rooms, a kitchen, four or five bedrooms, two bathrooms on each floor and often a music room or morning sitting room. This is a city of startling, and sometimes poignant, contrasts - where small churches are flanked by massive Communist-era buildings and the traffic stops for nothing but the increasingly rare horse-drawn cart. The treatment of these properties has been no exception. Along Calea Victoriei, a thoroughfare lined with villas, including the Stirbei Palace, it seems as if the restoration fairy has waved her wand most haphazardly. Some buildings are sparkling clean, a few are covered in scaffolding and many are still in shambles. The disparate conditions are the result of the former government's reluctance to return properties confiscated during the Communist era, leading to a backlog of thousands of requests. The new government, led by President Traian Basescu, has promised to process the unresolved cases and to clean up the judicial system, so some villas eventually may go on the market. But for now, the supply is limited, agents said. Still, the real value is in the dilapidated properties because, in Romania, repairs are rarely guaranteed, so buying a renovated villa can be risky. Making sure a building is earthquake-safe is a priority. "I have always been of the principle that when you're buying an old house, a house with a biography, you have to buy it unrenovated," Silvestri said. "Then, it is sincere. It talks to you, it tells you everything you need to hear." He sees a gaping difference between these historic homes and the city's new suburbs. "We may call them luxury neighborhoods, but that's no luxury," Silvestri said. "They're uncomfortable, new, shiny. But not luxury. Then, there's an authentic luxury market, and these are the old buildings." But authentic luxury does not come cheap. Rents for renovated villas are €4,000 to €15,000 per month along the ultra-exclusive Soseaua Kiseleff, a broad, tree-lined avenue. Homes for sale in the same area range from €1,200 to €2,000 per square meter, according to Eurisko. Prices, which are considerably lower in other areas, vary with a building's dimensions, age, neighborhood, condition and lot size. "Costs are high for Romania, but they aren't so high for Europe," said Tutan, who charges 1.5 percent commission on residential transactions. Adela Stan, a Romanian who bought a 1,400-square-meter unrenovated villa for €1.5 million in December, said she sensed it was the right time to act. "I saw how prices were skyrocketing," she said. "Our money was sitting in the bank, and everyone around us was buying." A week after closing the deal on the 1921 structure, another interested buyer called with an offer. While most foreigners in Bucharest work for embassies or multinational corporations, some second-home buyers have started trickling in. "Those personally invested in business here come for work," "Few people come to just live in Bucharest," said Despina Ponomarenco of Eurisko. "But it's a category that's developing. It's cheap, safe and it's interesting. Charming." BUCHAREST Cristina Tutan sighed as she drove up to the Stirbei Palace, a villa in the city center that had been on the market for more than a year. "It's falling to pieces," Tutan said as she stepped into the foyer. That was putting it gently. The neo-Classical mansion, built in 1835 and seized by the Communist government in 1940, had been neglected for decades. What remained was a carcass: smashed floor mosaics, rotting wood and layers of dust. Yet Tutan, a real estate agent who specializes in luxury properties, recently sold the property for €3.5 million, or $4.5 million, to a Romanian. (Real estate transactions in Bucharest are expressed in euros, rather than Romanian leus.) She had banked on the allure of the villa's history and Bucharest's potential as an "it" city - and her gamble paid off. Long considered a step behind its Western neighbors, this capital of two million people has struggled to shake off its reputation as a gritty den of corruption. Its success may have been gradual until recently but, as the large digital clock in Piata Universitatii, the university square, counts down to Jan. 1, 2007, the country's target date for entering the European Union, the change is accelerating by the day. Cafés and restaurants with global flavors have been opening in every neighborhood, glamorous new hotels have appeared with galleries of boutiques, and plans are under way to revitalize Lipscani, a drab but bustling neighborhood with cobblestone streets and antique shops that eventually could anchor the city's historic district. "Bucharest will be, whether you like it or not, a grand city," declared Artur Silvestri, a real estate agent and the editor of Casa Lux magazine. "Whoever is smart puts money into this country before integration. A foreigner at the present moment should hurry. If he didn't come until now, that was a mistake, but there's still time." (Anyone is allowed to buy buildings in Romania, although only citizens or legal entities like corporations can buy undeveloped land.) In 2004, prices rose 65 percent for land and 40 percent for residential properties, primarily because of growing demand from both Romanians and foreigners, Tutan said. Another factor was an increase in bank financing, which made it easier for Romanians of all income levels to buy homes, according to a yearly market overview by Eurisko Consulting, a real estate company. While the city's suburbs are acquiring slick new apartments and American-style developments with names like Washington Residence, a few Romanians and many more foreigners are eyeing the city's old housing stock. These villas, concentrated in the city center and in the exclusive northern district, date from the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, a time when the city was known as Little Paris. Many emulate French fin-de-siècle architecture, but the more distinctive ones feature the carved stone garlands and arched loggias of the local neo-Romanian style. Villas start at about 1,000 square meters, or 10,800 square feet, with a basement, an attic and two or three floors of living space. They typically have living and dining rooms, a kitchen, four or five bedrooms, two bathrooms on each floor and often a music room or morning sitting room. This is a city of startling, and sometimes poignant, contrasts - where small churches are flanked by massive Communist-era buildings and the traffic stops for nothing but the increasingly rare horse-drawn cart. The treatment of these properties has been no exception. Along Calea Victoriei, a thoroughfare lined with villas, including the Stirbei Palace, it seems as if the restoration fairy has waved her wand most haphazardly. Some buildings are sparkling clean, a few are covered in scaffolding and many are still in shambles. The disparate conditions are the result of the former government's reluctance to return properties confiscated during the Communist era, leading to a backlog of thousands of requests. The new government, led by President Traian Basescu, has promised to process the unresolved cases and to clean up the judicial system, so some villas eventually may go on the market. But for now, the supply is limited, agents said. Still, the real value is in the dilapidated properties because, in Romania, repairs are rarely guaranteed, so buying a renovated villa can be risky. Making sure a building is earthquake-safe is a priority. "I have always been of the principle that when you're buying an old house, a house with a biography, you have to buy it unrenovated," Silvestri said. "Then, it is sincere. It talks to you, it tells you everything you need to hear." He sees a gaping difference between these historic homes and the city's new suburbs. "We may call them luxury neighborhoods, but that's no luxury," Silvestri said. "They're uncomfortable, new, shiny. But not luxury. Then, there's an authentic luxury market, and these are the old buildings." But authentic luxury does not come cheap. Rents for renovated villas are €4,000 to €15,000 per month along the ultra-exclusive Soseaua Kiseleff, a broad, tree-lined avenue. Homes for sale in the same area range from €1,200 to €2,000 per square meter, according to Eurisko. Prices, which are considerably lower in other areas, vary with a building's dimensions, age, neighborhood, condition and lot size. "Costs are high for Romania, but they aren't so high for Europe," said Tutan, who charges 1.5 percent commission on residential transactions. Adela Stan, a Romanian who bought a 1,400-square-meter unrenovated villa for €1.5 million in December, said she sensed it was the right time to act. "I saw how prices were skyrocketing," she said. "Our money was sitting in the bank, and everyone around us was buying." A week after closing the deal on the 1921 structure, another interested buyer called with an offer. While most foreigners in Bucharest work for embassies or multinational corporations, some second-home buyers have started trickling in. "Those personally invested in business here come for work," "Few people come to just live in Bucharest," said Despina Ponomarenco of Eurisko. "But it's a category that's developing. It's cheap, safe and it's interesting. Charming." BUCHAREST Cristina Tutan sighed as she drove up to the Stirbei Palace, a villa in the city center that had been on the market for more than a year. "It's falling to pieces," Tutan said as she stepped into the foyer. That was putting it gently. The neo-Classical mansion, built in 1835 and seized by the Communist government in 1940, had been neglected for decades. What remained was a carcass: smashed floor mosaics, rotting wood and layers of dust. Yet Tutan, a real estate agent who specializes in luxury properties, recently sold the property for €3.5 million, or $4.5 million, to a Romanian. (Real estate transactions in Bucharest are expressed in euros, rather than Romanian leus.) She had banked on the allure of the villa's history and Bucharest's potential as an "it" city - and her gamble paid off. Long considered a step behind its Western neighbors, this capital of two million people has struggled to shake off its reputation as a gritty den of corruption. Its success may have been gradual until recently but, as the large digital clock in Piata Universitatii, the university square, counts down to Jan. 1, 2007, the country's target date for entering the European Union, the change is accelerating by the day. Cafés and restaurants with global flavors have been opening in every neighborhood, glamorous new hotels have appeared with galleries of boutiques, and plans are under way to revitalize Lipscani, a drab but bustling neighborhood with cobblestone streets and antique shops that eventually could anchor the city's historic district. "Bucharest will be, whether you like it or not, a grand city," declared Artur Silvestri, a real estate agent and the editor of Casa Lux magazine. "Whoever is smart puts money into this country before integration. A foreigner at the present moment should hurry. If he didn't come until now, that was a mistake, but there's still time." (Anyone is allowed to buy buildings in Romania, although only citizens or legal entities like corporations can buy undeveloped land.) In 2004, prices rose 65 percent for land and 40 percent for residential properties, primarily because of growing demand from both Romanians and foreigners, Tutan said. Another factor was an increase in bank financing, which made it easier for Romanians of all income levels to buy homes, according to a yearly market overview by Eurisko Consulting, a real estate company. While the city's suburbs are acquiring slick new apartments and American-style developments with names like Washington Residence, a few Romanians and many more foreigners are eyeing the city's old housing stock. These villas, concentrated in the city center and in the exclusive northern district, date from the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, a time when the city was known as Little Paris. Many emulate French fin-de-siècle architecture, but the more distinctive ones feature the carved stone garlands and arched loggias of the local neo-Romanian style. Villas start at about 1,000 square meters, or 10,800 square feet, with a basement, an attic and two or three floors of living space. They typically have living and dining rooms, a kitchen, four or five bedrooms, two bathrooms on each floor and often a music room or morning sitting room. This is a city of startling, and sometimes poignant, contrasts - where small churches are flanked by massive Communist-era buildings and the traffic stops for nothing but the increasingly rare horse-drawn cart. The treatment of these properties has been no exception. Along Calea Victoriei, a thoroughfare lined with villas, including the Stirbei Palace, it seems as if the restoration fairy has waved her wand most haphazardly. Some buildings are sparkling clean, a few are covered in scaffolding and many are still in shambles. The disparate conditions are the result of the former government's reluctance to return properties confiscated during the Communist era, leading to a backlog of thousands of requests. The new government, led by President Traian Basescu, has promised to process the unresolved cases and to clean up the judicial system, so some villas eventually may go on the market. But for now, the supply is limited, agents said. Still, the real value is in the dilapidated properties because, in Romania, repairs are rarely guaranteed, so buying a renovated villa can be risky. Making sure a building is earthquake-safe is a priority. "I have always been of the principle that when you're buying an old house, a house with a biography, you have to buy it unrenovated," Silvestri said. "Then, it is sincere. It talks to you, it tells you everything you need to hear." He sees a gaping difference between these historic homes and the city's new suburbs. "We may call them luxury neighborhoods, but that's no luxury," Silvestri said. "They're uncomfortable, new, shiny. But not luxury. Then, there's an authentic luxury market, and these are the old buildings." But authentic luxury does not come cheap. Rents for renovated villas are €4,000 to €15,000 per month along the ultra-exclusive Soseaua Kiseleff, a broad, tree-lined avenue. Homes for sale in the same area range from €1,200 to €2,000 per square meter, according to Eurisko. Prices, which are considerably lower in other areas, vary with a building's dimensions, age, neighborhood, condition and lot size. "Costs are high for Romania, but they aren't so high for Europe," said Tutan, who charges 1.5 percent commission on residential transactions. Adela Stan, a Romanian who bought a 1,400-square-meter unrenovated villa for €1.5 million in December, said she sensed it was the right time to act. "I saw how prices were skyrocketing," she said. "Our money was sitting in the bank, and everyone around us was buying." A week after closing the deal on the 1921 structure, another interested buyer called with an offer. While most foreigners in Bucharest work for embassies or multinational corporations, some second-home buyers have started trickling in. "Those personally invested in business here come for work," "Few people come to just live in Bucharest," said Despina Ponomarenco of Eurisko. "But it's a category that's developing. It's cheap, safe and it's interesting. Charming." |
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