Constanda sells 1.63 ha of French Village for 68m euros

Businessman Constantin Constanda has received around 68 million euros from the sale of 1.63 hectares of land in Satul Francez (French Village) to Greek firm Raptis Kavouras, a deal that put the entire 2.8-hectare plot owned by Constanda at 120 million euros. In March, in one of the biggest scandals on the real estate market, Constanda became part owner in the French Village in exchange for Bordei Park with the Bucharest City Hall.

He acquired the park from two individuals, who had bought it from the two people it had been given back to, Dumitru Tudor and Eugen Lincaru. Constanda could not be contacted by the time this issue was ready for print.

The purchased lot includes nine villas whose rental contracts range from 2,000 to 4,000 dollars and will expire by next spring. "We probably won't start working on the new project until next year, while a team of architects has already started design work. The owner did not wish to sell everything, but we might buy the rest, as well," Lucian Mateescu, general manager of Raptis Kavouras, told ZF.

At a price of 4,200 euros/square metre, the sale of the land which houses Satul Francez (French Village) is a record deal on the segment of large plots, located in luxury areas of Bucharest.

Negotiations for the 16,300 square metre plot took less than two months, but a price was decided on in just ten minutes, although the starting price was less than 10% higher than the value of the transaction.

"This was a transaction that we worked on day and night, and in the last three days the final details were discussed for 50 hours. We really wanted this land, and, according to our information, at least three other companies were also interested. Price negotiations started from 4,500 euros/square metre, but it only took around 5 minutes to make a decision," said Mateescu.

Mateescu met Constanda on May 22, while the deal occurred less than two months later on July 15, during a period when big real estate deals are rare.

"When it comes to prices of tens of millions of euros, the market is not overcrowded with buyers under the current conditions, so this is not exactly perfect timing. On the other hand, we believed the position of the land is unique, because there aren't any other large plots in the central-northern part of the city," added Mateescu.

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Source: http://www.zf.ro/articol_180136/constanda_sells_1_63_ha_of_french_village_for_68m_euros.html