NestPlus signs a €10 million financing with Exim Banca Românească for Brăila Plaza, the city's first street mall

NestPlus, through its NestPlus Plaza division, has signed a €10 million investment loan with Exim Banca Românească for the construction of Brăila Plaza, the largest street mall in the city of Brăila — an investment worth €17 million. Completion and occupancy of the retail units are scheduled for 2026.

Brăila Plaza is part of a commercial centre of roughly 17,000 m², developed in phases on the former Promex industrial platform in the north of Brăila — a site of around 6 hectares brought back to life through an ample urban-regeneration project, where Kaufland and Lidl have recently opened their own stores and Penny operates in the immediate vicinity. The new gallery, with a leasable area of approximately 9,000 m², completes the ensemble and turns it into the main retail destination of the city's north, with direct access from the E87 and a catchment of over 400,000 inhabitants in the Brăila–Galați conurbation. The building is designed to nZEB standard and will be fitted with photovoltaic panels covering part of the gallery's energy consumption. Brăila Plaza is not an isolated project: NestPlus is running several urban-regeneration developments, both through the Plaza division and through its residential division, NestPlus Living.

The commercial mix is built around the major international chains present in Romanian retail — Action, JYSK, Pepco, Sinsay, dm, Dr. Max and TEDI — alongside an 18 GYM fitness club and a food court with terraces, featuring Burger King in drive-thru format and the Mesopotamia restaurant. Part of the gallery is reserved for local businesses — bakeries and pretzel shops, food concepts, a veterinary clinic, a flower shop — so that Brăila Plaza works as a true centre of the community.

“We are developing Brăila Plaza on the philosophy that has guided every development our team has delivered over the years: long-term vision, strategic locations and solid partnerships. The proximity format anchored by international retailers and integrated into the life of the community is the model that has replaced the classic mall, and the partnership with Exim Banca Românească confirms the market's confidence in this model. With Brăila Plaza we continue the Plaza retail network — an investment programme of over €80 million in Romania's regional cities,” said Iulian Botta, CEO of NestPlus.

“Through this financing, we reaffirm our commitment to standing by the Romanian companies that invest in development and create value in their communities. As a Romanian bank, we support projects that contribute to the growth of the economy, generate new employment opportunities and back the sustainable modernisation of regional urban centres. We remain a trusted partner for the entrepreneurs who build for the long term, whom we encourage to make use of the financing solutions we provide to turn their development plans into concrete, successful projects,” said Traian Halalai, Executive President of Exim Banca Românească.

About NestPlus — NestPlus is an integrated Romanian real-estate group covering the full life cycle of a project, from concept and development, through construction, to the long-term operation of assets. The group was formed around a team with a solid track record of commercial and residential developments delivered over the past two decades, now united under the NestPlus brand, and operates through three divisions: NestPlus Plaza (retail parks and income-generating assets in regional cities), NestPlus Living (residential developments) and NestPlus AG (general contracting and design & build). The group's fourth component — an investment fund dedicated to the long-term ownership of retail parks and income-generating assets — is already being structured and will be launched by the end of the year. More at www.nestplus.ro.

About Exim Banca Românească — Exim Banca Românească is one of Romania's top banks, with 100% Romanian shareholding. Its financial products are available on advantageous terms to all types of companies — from SMEs and micro-enterprises to large corporations. Through its 27 Business Centres across the country, the bank offers a broad range of competitive products and services covering the entire financing cycle, as well as transactional services — financing, guarantees, treasury products, cash management, factoring and trade finance. More at www.eximbank.ro.