Pavel Kodzik
President, RRG Real Estate Group
As RRG Real Estate Group turns 20, President Pavel Kodzik reflects on why development is about more than buildings – it is about creating places where people genuinely want to live.
What does 20 years mean to you personally?
Twenty years inevitably makes you look back, but what interests me more is how our understanding of development has changed.
When you start, you naturally focus on the building itself. With experience, you begin to see a much bigger picture. A successful development is also about the environment around it, how people experience it every day and how the place feels 10 or 20 years later.
That evolution explains RRG today better than any timeline could. “Transforming space to better place” has been our philosophy for 20 years. Today, we understand those words more broadly than ever.
How did RRG arrive at this point?
Step by step. Linda Residence, Lighthouse and Park Avenue 96 were important chapters for us. Each project taught us something and raised the expectations we set for the next one.
But companies evolve not only through projects – they are also shaped by the people who join them along the way. New perspectives can challenge established thinking, expand ambitions and sometimes even change the way you see the business itself. Combining 20 years of experience with new ideas has been an important part of our evolution. Lakeside11 is where this evolution becomes most visible.
20 years ago, we chose the idea “Transforming space to better place.” After all this time, those words mean more to us, not less.
Is that why Lakeside11 is so important for RRG?
Exactly. Lakeside11 is the next big step for RRG. Our most ambitious development to date and the clearest expression of what we have become after 20 years.
We started with 2.5 Ha next to Lake Străulești in northern Bucharest. Our first question was not “How many apartments can we build here?” It was: “What kind of place can this become?”
That question shaped the entire concept. Instead of treating the space between buildings as what remains after construction, we treat it as part of the product. Our Float Spot Concept creates elevated green platforms above ground-level infrastructure and traffic, with car-free spaces for relaxation, children, events and social life. Inspired by Le Corbusier’s principles and reinterpreted for contemporary living, the concept was recognized with a Red Dot Award in Singapore.
Lakeside11 also brings together a multinational team of architects, designers and engineers. This allows us to combine best practices from different markets rather than repeat familiar solutions.
You describe Lakeside11 as a business-class project. What does “business class” mean to you?
Business class is not marble in the lobby or a longer list of expensive materials. Those things can be copied.
It starts with space. Think about business class on a plane: one of the first things you notice is that you have more room. At Lakeside11, our apartments are around 20% larger than comparable new developments on the market. But space does not stop at your front door. We also chose a lower development density, leaving more room between buildings, more greenery and more space for people. You can feel it—the whole place breathes differently.
You feel quality when hundreds of decisions work together: the proportions of your apartment, how buildings sit on the site, what happens when you step outside, where cars are placed and how much greenery surrounds you.
Many of these decisions may never appear in a brochure. But together they determine whether people genuinely enjoy living there.
How much of this approach comes from 20 years of experience?
Experience teaches you that a beautiful rendering is only the beginning. The difficult part is carrying the original idea through design, procurement and construction, because this is where quality can either be created or gradually lost.
After 20 years, perhaps we ask more questions, but we understand much better which questions matter.
What comes next for RRG?
Lakeside11 is an important step, but not a final destination. It sets a standard we want to develop further.
Our ambition for the next chapter is not simply to build more. We want to create places that make their surroundings better and remain valuable long after construction is finished.
The next chapter is about applying that philosophy at a larger scale – creating places that are not only successful when we deliver them, but become better with time.
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