Business Construct: Projects of the year: 10 investments that have moved the market. OCTAGON was involved in the construction of three of the projects

Two shopping centers developed by NEPI, five office projects stretching over  110,000 sqm, a road passage, a multifunctional hall and a  DYI store, are ten of the most important real estate investments delivered this year, on a market in which large projects worth hundreds of millions of euro missed, Business Constructor writes. OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING was involved in the construction  of three of these projects: Hermes Business Campus, Green Court Bucharest and Green Gate.

Top 10 investitii 2014

The cumulated investments in these projects reached almost 350 million euro, while a shopping center,  such as AFI Palace Cotroceni from Bucharest cost 300 million euro and the investment in Palas shopping mall from Iasi exceeded 250 million euro. Two of these investments, the office projects Green Gate and AFI Park, benefited from banking financing, which shows that the financial institutions keep being prudent in granting loans for construction.

Under these circumstances, two public projects have also reached the top of investments:  the underground passage Mihai Bravu from Bucharest and the new Multifunctional Hall from Cluj, as well as a Dedeman store, a 16 mil. euro investment,  built in Colentina.

The 10 projects are:

•   Vulcan Value Center- shopping center covering 25,000 sqm, located in Rahova area; investment: 47 mil. euro
•  Mihai Bravu Passage
• Targu- Jiu Shopping City- shopping mall with a leasable area of 27,000 sqm; investment: 30 mil. euro
• Dedeman Colentina
• AFI Park 2 and 3- two office buildings with 24,000 sqm of leasable space; investment: 40 mil. euro
• The Office Cluj- offices with 19,000 sqm leasable; investment: 26 mil. euro
• The Multifunctional Hall from Cluj- with a capacity of 7,200 seats; investment: 16 mil. euro.
• Green Gate- office building located on Tudor Vladimirescu Blvd.; investment: 57.5 million euro. OCTAGON performed the geotechnical works: diaphragm walls, bored piles, dewatering system and crown beam
• Green Court Bucharest- office complex developed in three stages on Barbu Vacarescu Blvd; investment: 46 mil euro. OCTAGON performed the infrastructure and superstructure works for buildings A and B
• Hermes Business Campus- office complex located in Pipera area, on 5-7 Dimitrie Pompeiu Blvd. OCTAGON  was general contractor for the first stage of the project: the construction of building B, and is currently building the foundation and superstructure of building C- the second stage of the project.

Top 10 investitii 2014

Video: OCTAGON- Construction of concrete structure and bored piles for Residential Complex Maresal Averescu 159

OCTAGON CONTRACTING& ENGINEERING has not built many residential buildings, but the projects delivered were major for the company’s portfolio.

One of the first projects built by OCTAGON was a residential complex consisting of three buildings, located on 159 Maresal Averescu Blvd.   

The video below renders the works performed by OCTAGON within the complex: infrastructure works- diaphragm walls, bored piles and concrete structure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n29QhEzM6f4

The Construction Agenda: OCTAGON- 2 million euro works for large scale infrastructure projects

Octagon Contracting & Engineering, one of the main constructors of special foundations in Romania is  working on three large scale infrastructure projects in Romania. The total value of the projects is around  2 million euro. Octagon will cash 600,000 euro for geotechnical works performed at the underground passage from Presei Libere Square in Bucharest.  Another important project is the rehabilitation of Brasov – Simeria railway,  Coslariu – Sighisoara section, Micasasa – Coslariu sector, worth 260,000 euro. "In this project we were subcontracted by the Greek contractor Aktor. We also executed bored piles for sections A, D and E of the second sector of  Lugoj – Deva highway, a  5 million lei (1.14 milion euro) project,  as the subcontractor of Salini Impregilo ", said Alexandros Ignatiadis, co-founder and shareholder of Octagon C&E.

 Poor management of public investments blocks the infrastructure development

According to the manager the main issue the local infrastructure and public works market is facing is the poor management, which triggers poor results in the area. "Delivery terms are extended three times on average and these delays generate financial loses. We have major delays in each stage of a project’s  development, starting with the feasibility stage and continuing with the launching of the specifications book, which is contested several times. A lot of time is wasted trying to solve the contestations, after which a new bid the results of which are contested again is announced.” said the shareholder of Octagon.

The new rules for the awarding of public contracts, voted by the European Parliament on January 15^th  2014, have not solved the issues of the Romanian legislation either. "Maintaining the lowest price as the main awarding criteria can significantly impact the quality of delivered projects. We need a more detailed approach and deep changes in this respect.”  explained Alexandros Ignatiadis.