Together towards a new year-round
destination
After 25 years of involvement and investments in upgrading and building the attractiveness of major cities in Romania, following extensive urban regeneration projects developed successfully in Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, and Suceava, we are now seeking to help transform Constanța into an active and vibrant destination through every season.
We are developing the first mixed-use complex in Dobruja, one that will transform an untapped formerly industrial area of Constanța into a green, genuine center of interest of the city, with touristic, economic and cultural impact.
We want this project to reflect the authentic spirit of Constanța, and for the transformation to be truly relevant for each and every one of us. With every opinion, idea and aspiration shared by Constanța residents we are getting closer to the destination we would all like every day of the year.
IULIUS Company and Oil Terminal S.A. signed a partnership agreement in 2023 for a 38 hectares land owned by Oil Terminal S.A. This land has been inactive for 10-plus years and has previously accommodated storage facilities for petroleum products.
Based on this partnership, IULIUS proposes the development of an extensive urban reconversion and regeneration project, the largest private investment (upwards of 800 million Euro) announced in Constanța for the upcoming years. The land ownership remains with Oil Terminal S.A., who will cash an annual superficies tax.
Constanța is the only city in Romania with more than 400 hectares of underutilized land downtown and a unique potential for transforming a contaminated area into an attractive urban hub, with an active role in terms of socio-economic, tourist and business development.
The extensive area forms the object of urban regeneration endeavors by the local administration, based on integrated urban development strategies. In this context, a masterplan was needed for the wider area in order to have long-term coherence for aspects such as city connectivity and mobility solutions, sustainability directions and ensuring the decontamination of the area, creation and functional location of new green spaces, in order to serve the entire community, determining the uses and services required to cater to the needs of a new urban hub, etc.
IULIUS will develop the project on the 38 hectares covered by their land development right, and the remainder of the area is owned by multiple public and private entities.
IULIUS presented a vision proposal, not a final project. We will reach the final project after a proper approval and authorization procedure with all the competent institutions and authorities, including a public debate.
The entire endeavor is an opportunity for Constanța to be the first city where all the stakeholders (community, private entities, and local and national institutions) engage in a collaborative process and work together to develop a coherent strategy for the urban revitalization of a city. A project of such magnitude as the one proposed by IULIUS can put Constanța on the map of Europe’s magnet-cities and can only be implemented based on an integrated long-term vision, for a real and relevant impact to the benefit of the city and the community.
IULIUS has a development right over 38 hectares of the entire area, and the guarantee for seeing the project through lies in the 25-plus years of expertise in this industry and our experience in developing and operating the largest urban regeneration projects in Romania, located in key-cities and whose impact was and continues to be one of sustained development. (www.iuliuscompany.ro). The remainder up to 420 hectares belong to multiple private and public entities and, just like IULIUS Company, they will also align with the directions set by the authorities for the urban regeneration of the Anghel Saligny area.
No private entity may request or proceed to the relocation of a train station.
IULIUS presented the solution deemed optimal for solving a major connectivity issue for the wider urban regeneration area (the 420 hectares Anghel Saligny area), not only for the 38 hectares land covered by their development rights, because a comprehensive and coherent approach is required for the entire city.
A multidisciplinary international team (traffic, mobility, railway infrastructure, urban planners, architects, etc.) worked to identify the connectivity solutions. The specialists analyzed multiple scenarios and developed solutions based on concrete studies and parameters, aligning with major mobility investment projects that are either underway or planned by the local or central administration, as well as with the development needs for the road and railway infrastructure.
The scenario that entails a potential reintegration of the train station in the central area (1.2 kilometers away from its current location) emerged as one of the best solutions based on the specialists’ analysis. This option will ensure the following:
• removing the barriers created by the railway lines that cut off the entire area and integrating the area within the city;
• shortening the railway section and alleviating the bottlenecks it creates;
• promoting pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit;
• efficient and integrated connectivity;
• reducing the discomfort created by railway traffic;
• creating a new, modern train station, integrated in a mixed-use complex, etc.
This proposal requires a thorough analysis by the local and centrale authorities, as well as by the competent institutions, who also have a say in the opportunity decision-making process for implementation thereof, in line with the legal provisions in force and the development strategy of the city.
The proposed vision is not one for a residential project, but rather for a mixed-use complex. The projects developed by IULIUS are also managed by an in-house asset management division, as they are built to be owned. IULIUS does not direct its investment projects in the residential segment, but rather towards mixed-use projects, which include parks built from scratch, office buildings, shopping and services areas, venues for events, cultural and educational uses, entertainment centers, etc.
Across our entire portfolio (310,000 sqm of retail premises in 8 projects and 242,000 sqm of premium office space in 15 buildings) in Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, and Suceava, there is only one residential building with 45 apartments located in Iași.
Therefore, the residential component is only a complementary one in the IULIUS projects, relevant to maintaining a major project active at all times, but not at all a priority one.
IULIUS Company started out as a shopping mall developer, opening the first mall outside of the Capital in Iași back in 2000. However, in the last 15 years, IULIUS has focused exclusively on developing and operating mixed-use urban regeneration projects, being the company to open the first complex of this kind in Romania (Palas Iași) back in 2012.
Our projects have a commercial component, as they are private investments and, although they have the capacity to support urban development and add value in terms of quality of life, they operate based on market economy principles and are partly financed by bank loans.
However, the format is customized to the needs of the residents and the city, therefore the mixed-use concept offers multiple experiences and uses, ranging from premium international brands and local producers, public utility, medical or educational services, to entertainment centers, cultural uses, event halls, concept-restaurants, playground areas, gyms, aqua park, botanical garden, and many others.
Parks are a key component of IULIUS projects (13 hectares of urban gardens created in Iași, Timișoara, and Cluj-Napoca, landscaped with more than 80,000 mature trees and decorative plants, which required an investment adding up to 18 million Euro).
We estimate that the urban regeneration project in Constanța will include approximately 10 hectares of landscaped green spaces, in the form of parks with mature trees (up to 60 years old and up to 13 meters high) and a botanical garden.
To this effect, IULIUS has already fitted out a nursery in Lazu Village, where more than 600 mature trees are currently acclimating. The nursery will accommodate up to 2,000 mature trees, which will be subsequently planted in the parks integrated in the project.
The benefits for the community and the city cover multiple levels, both directly and indirectly:
• Constanța will benefit from an investment upwards of 800 million Euro, the largest private investment announced for the upcoming years;
• An abandoned industrial land becoming an environmentally remediated active urban hub for the people of Constanța, with green spaces, cultural and leisure venues, as well as real economic opportunities;
• Decontamination of 38 hectares of land in the central area of the city;
• Creation of more than 8,000 jobs;
• Office spaces to attract companies in added-value fields;
• New development opportunities for the academic community;
• Large-scale events and new leisure concepts active on a year-round basis;
• The cultural and artistic community will have access to modern spaces for their actions and performances;
• Facilities that support a better quality of life;
• Impact on raising the standard of living;
• Direct and indirect contributions to the local budget, which can be new financing sources for strategic projects;
• Implementation of modern connectivity infrastructure solutions;
• Contribution to developing the tourist attractivity of the city throughout the year, etc.
The project transforms a heavily contaminated area through one of the most extensive bioremediation processes conducted in Europe. The bioremediation process is coordinated by the National Research & Development Institute for Pedology, Agrochemistry and Environmental Protection (ICPA) in Bucharest, where IULIUS has fitted and fully equipped a laboratory with the necessary infrastructure for producing the bacterial biopreparations required for the bioremediation process.
The application of bacterial-based biopreparations is the main technological line in the process of bioremediating soils polluted with biodegradable compounds, such as petroleum hydrocarbons. The methodology for bioremediating soils polluted with oil and petroleum products is developed and validated based on the findings obtained throughout the years, following complex laboratory and in-situ research, being underpinned by the physical, chemical, and biological analysis methodologies developed by ICPA Bucharest.
More specifically, the decontamination process will be carried out within the 38-hectares perimeter and entails excavations up to 2 meters deep. The polluted soil will undergo decontamination in controlled biopiles, by inoculating it with selected microorganisms that enhance the onset and progress of petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation. After applying a protective membrane over the entire area to isolate the remaining historically contaminated land, the clean soil will be returned on-site.
The archeological research process is currently in progress, being carried out by the Institute of Archeological Research within the Iași chapter of the Romanian Academy, in collaboration with the National History and Archeology Museum of Constanța. The endeavor facilitates the discovery and showcasing of the history of this area, with works conducted to this date on the archeological site for the Necropolis of the ancient city of Tomis. Once the archeological research work is completed, the discoveries will be preserved and showcased as directed by the archeologists.
