Maria Jianu (SPEEDWELL Development): Dialogue with the authorities is a gateway to sustainable city development

At the Environmental & Sustainability Summit 2025, Maria Jianu, Leasing Director at SPEEDWELL Development, spoke about sustainability in the construction area, as well as the latest construction trends. But also about the pace of development of projects, which is very important for investors, and discussions with authorities differ from city to city. 

When we talk about sustainability we rush to talk about figures, equipment and the latest building trends. But sustainability starts from choosing the right land, where functionalities can converge and we have the right framework for an ecosystem development. We have a completed project in Cluj, Record Park, which includes offices, housing, a gym, and a school. A colleague of mine who lives there has up to two hours less commute time than I do. We need projects like this, which reduce the need for traffic and mean we no longer have to cross the entire city. Projects like this can bring a community together and make it much easier to organize your life.

Maria Jianu then talked about working with the authorities, which are not the same in every city in Romania. But when consensus is reached, projects run more smoothly and develop faster, which is good for the pace of investment.

There is also a discussion about pace. Dialogue with authorities and communities is a gateway to sustainable city development, but it’s also often about timing, because these investments are sensitive to timing. It is an experience that differs a lot from city to city. What I’ve noticed is that the processes of digitization and transparency have made the conversations very fluid and we’ve been able to get to a common outcome quickly. Many times, we offer an orange, but we just want the peel, and the authorities want the core. If we understand that we can have that orange together, things become easier and we are able to do projects faster and better. That’s what we’re doing in the Queens District project, the project we’re going to develop in the Promenada area, a mixed-use project with 23,000 square meters of office space, 240 apartments and it will include the largest Regina Maria hospital. This project can coagulate a community, with retail facilities on the ground floor, you can eliminate

Sustainability has become much more important in recent years, and not only because of the regulations in force, but also because of the efficiencies it brings to operational activities.

Being involved in leasing I can see first hand how companies prioritize certain needs. And if a few years ago sustainability could be perceived as a buzz word, now things are becoming quite precise. We as developers are part of the Scope 3 of these companies. We are office space providers. In order for them to meet their sustainability goals they need us to tick off the certification requirements that they have, and the requirements now are much higher than they were ten years ago.

Sustainability has become much more important in recent years, and not only because of the regulations in force, but also because of the efficiencies it brings to operational activities.

In addition to the sustainability rules, Maria Jianu also pointed out that there are a number of costs related to services adjacent to the offices and those related to utilities, which are not always taken into account by tenants. But these costs can be up to half of the rental cost.

The challenge of finding solutions for the best certifications is welcome because it means operational savings. Companies often look first at the basic rent, but we encourage them to look at the whole package. There are costs related to services and users, costs that sometimes amount to half of the basic rent. But they are overlooked and it is also the role of the consultants to point out that these costs end up doubling from year to year, especially if the equipment has not been updated. Our proposal, including the Queens Disctrict, is to achieve 30% lower utility and service costs. Including for ground floor spaces, and for a restaurant these costs are more significant than for office businesses.