Archive for the 'Commercial property' Category
Thursday, June 7th, 2007
Spanish company Riofisa says Sofia mixed-use development to kick off soon
Riofisa SA, a leading Spanish real estate company, said it expects to secure all necessary construction permits and commence work on its mixed-use development in Sofia, said Carlos Pilar, in charge of the company’s international expansion. Riofisa Wednesday was granted a First Class Investor certificate by InvestBulgaria Agency, the local investment promotion authority.
Pilar said the conceptual design of the development will be completed promptly and the company will apply for the relevant permits as soon as possible. The 280,000 sq m built-up area scheme, sited near the Sofia central train station, should be completed in late 2009 or early 2010.
The launch of the 85,000 sq m retail component of the scheme will attract retailers that are not yet present on the Bulgaria market but usually have leases in Riofisa commercial properties.
In addition to retail outlets, the shopping center will feature a supermarket, casino, bowling alleys and cinema theaters.
The property, with an initial estimated cost of 335 mln euro, will be anchored by an 90 m high-rise housing offices and a hotel. The other components of the scheme are still being put together and it has not been decided if they will be office or residential, said Pilar.
In 2006, Riofisa unveiled a 215 mln euro project for a commercial and entertainment center in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second biggest city. Pilar said on Wednesday that the land plot for the scheme has been purchased but refuse to name the location.
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007
Bulgaria eco ministry holds Tishman commercial park development
The 200 mln euro commercial park near the Sofia International Airport being developed by U.S. company Tishman is being held back by the insistence of the Bulgarian environment ministry that the investor submit an environment impact assessment (EIA) for the project. The project cannot be gain construction approval before all the relevant permits are granted by the environment ministry.
The size of the Tishman development has qualified the company for a First Class Investor certificate and administrative support. The InvestBulgaria Agency, the local investment promotion authority, assisted Tishman in arranging a meeting with the ministers of economy and environment to discuss the problem. Initially, the company was asked to submit an EIA but that requirement was later dropped after it was successfully litigated by Tishman.
The U.S. company was then asked for additional information certifying that the project is safe and meets all relevant environment standards. ‘The requested documents have been handed in and we are awaiting the response of the regional environment protection directorate,’ said Pepa Dimitrova from Tishman’s Bulgarian office. is a multi-purpose mix of office, logistics, storage and hotel buildings located 300 m from the new terminal of the Sofia airport. The commercial park will have a 10 ha footprint and built-up area of 256,000 sq m, including 100,000 sq m of office space, 20,000 sq m of warehouse floor area and 40,000 sq m of hotel premises.
A subway station, providing a transportation link with the downtown and the western-most boroughs of the capital, should open in the vicinity of the commercial park within 3 years. A total of 90,000 sq m of office space will be placed on the market during the initial stage of the project. Some 20,000 sq m of logistics and industrial floor area will be built by the fall of 2007.
30,000 sq m of Class A low to mid-rise office buildings will be ready in the first half of 2008.
Wednesday, May 30th, 2007
Bulgarian Albena to sell White Lagoon resort by the end of August
Local tourism company Albena said it will sell its , on the Black Sea, by the end of August. The company is in talks with a foreign strategic investor who has already invested in North-eastern Bulgaria and is here for the long run, said Albena manager Krasimir Stanev withholding the name of the candidate buyer.
A further two foreign buyers are also reportedly interested in White Lagoon but the said investor will have exclusivity through August. Albena intended to add a golf course to the White Lagoon but a number of similar projects are already in progress in the area, said Stanev. The resort would require an investment of 50 mln to 100 mln levs, a resource that Albena cannot afford over the near term, said Stanev.
White Lagoon was listed on the Bulgarian bourse in March this year. The resort, located near Balchik, consists of 2 hotels with a total bed capacity of 79 double rooms.
Friday, May 25th, 2007
Alfa Developments breaks ground for Alfa Business Center in Sofia
Alfa Developments, the Bulgarian property investment company, said it has broken ground for the construction of the mixed-use Alfa Business Center in South-eastern Sofia. , will have a built-up area of 15,700 sq m. It will deliver 7,000 sq m of office space on 7 aboveground levels.
The building is designed to accommodate 116 cars on two underground parking levels. Storage facilities and shops will occupy one semi-underground level.
Alfa Business Center will be first scheme from the multi-purpose BPS Alfa Park that will be completed.
The 110 mln euro BPS Alfa Park, located at a 10 min drive from the Sofia International Airport and a 15 min drive from the center of the capital, is part of the Sofia Park project, the biggest property development ever launched in Bulgaria.
BPS Alfa Park, conceived as an extension of the existing Business Park Sofia office and logistics property, will have total built-up area of 152,000 sq m. Half of the space inventory will be office premises with 20% earmarked for residential use. The complex should be completed by the end of 2010.
Sofia Park, which integrates work and living environments, comprises also Residential Park Sofia, Business Park Sofia (managed by Alfa Developments) and a large-scale mall development, among other properties.
Alfa Developments is a subsidiary of Alfa Finance Holding AD, a local holding company with a portfolio of high-profile finance and real estate projects. The Alfa Developments spread includes also Panorama City, a project for a gated residential community in Varna, and the Sofia Central Park serviced residences.
Investor.bg
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
Bulgarian resort of Dobrinishte tourist ski zone investor chosen
Galchev Engineering Group in co-operation with Austria’s Norema was chosen as the investor for the construction of the Dobrinishte tourist ski zone. This was said by Radko Lechov, head of the Bansko municipal council, at a council meeting on May 13, Investor.bg reported.
“We chose Galchev Engineering Group after serious investigation of its activities. It turned out that the company has serious experience in building tourist complexes. Norema has strong financial potential. The combination of the two is extremely good,” Lechov said.
At the next meeting to be held in June, the two holdings are expected to form a mixed share holding with Bansko Municipality to carry out the project. The intention is for the municipality to have strict control over the building of the ski zone, Lechov said.
Building was expected to start by the end of the year, he said.
The ski zone will be designed by the same person who designed the ski zone in Bansko, architect Emil Lechov. The project will cost about 200 million leva. Investor.bg said that last year, because of increasing interest in the Dobrinishte project, Bansko municipality worked out the basics for the development of the resort. This was presented to potential investors. Among investors that took an interest in the project were Nord Invetment Inc, and Sunset Developments Ltd, the owner of the two mountain huts and the hotel in Dobriniste. Later, Sunset Developments Ltd changed its name to Dobrinishte Ski Ltd.
Last October, the Invest Bulgaria Agency gave Dobrinishte Ski a first class investor certificate for the ski complex project. For now, it remains unclear why the Dobrinishte Ski Ltd project did not go further. An official statement by the Invest Bulgaria Agency was expected.
Currently, the ski complex in Dobrinishte includes the Dobrinishte hotel which has a 130 bed capacity, Gotse Delchev hut (40 beds), and Bezbog hut (140 beds). The ski track is five km long. It starts at Bezbog hut and finishes at Gotse Delchev hut. It is 30 m wide, with two lifts, ski drags, and a ski school.
Investor.bg
Monday, May 21st, 2007
Bulgaria REIT Activ Properties buys coastal property
Bulgarian real estate investment trust Activ Properties has added to its portfolio a 4.8 ha land plot near Sozopol, on the Black Sea, the company said in a filing with the Bulgarian stock exchange. The REIT plans to develop a vacation complex in the area. No further details about the project were immediately available. The company is in the process of acquiring more properties in the vicinity which will be rezoned. These properties are not part of the protected wilderness tracts in the region, said executive director Dilian Panev.
The investment in coastal properties will form a faction in the Activ Properties portfolio and will be financed with the proceeds from the company’s capital raise. In March, the REIT hiked its capital from 5.2 mln to 19.7 mln levs, raising 22 mln levs.
There are no plans to raise cash with further share sales over the next 12-18 months, said Panev. The company will rely on debt and loan financing over the said period. At the moment, the focus is on the design of a residential development in Plovdiv, said Panev. Construction should begin in the fall. The 41 mln euro project should be completed in 36 months.
Activ Properties owns several premises in a new mixed-use building on Sofia’s Tsarigradsko Shose boulevard and an underground parking lot and commercial center in Plovdiv. The REIT posted a profit of 1.022 mln levs for 2006, sharply up from 30,000 levs in 2005. Revenues topped 1.731 mln levs, including 299,000 levs of rent income.
Thursday, April 26th, 2007
Developer adds shopping mall to Tsarigradski compound
A 71 mln lev shopping mall will be added to the gated 
under construction in north-eastern Sofia. The company that will develop the mall project, Sofia Building Enterprise, Wednesday was granted a First Class Investor certificate by the local investment promotion authority.
Sofia Building Enterprise, a subsidiary of construction firm Sofia Building Company which is developing the Tsarigradski housing community, is specially incorporated for the purposes of the mall project. The new shopping center is sited in proximity to the outlets of German retailer Metro and Austrian DIY chain Praktiker and to the locations of planned Carrefour and Turk Mall commercial developments.
The Tsarigradski Mall development will have a footprint of 2.0 ha and a total built-up area of 105,000 sq m, including 35,000 sq m of lettable retail space. The office component of the mall will deliver 15,000 sq m of lettable premises. The construction of the mall, which will employ 1,200 staff after completion, should get underway in the fall and wrap in 2009.
Sofia Building Enterprise provides 30% of the project financing with the remainder coming from an unnamed bank. The mall site is part of the land initially designated for the development of the Tsarigradski residential compound. The tenants of the complex will move into their new homes this summer.
The second section of the complex will be delivered in 2008 with all three sections expected to be completed by 2009, providing housing to 4,000 tenants. There are unsold apartment units only in Tsarigradski III with prices starting from 55o euro/sq m. Sofia Building Company is currently scouting for sites for residential construction in Sofia and along the Black Sea coastline.
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
FairPlay International to invest 80 mln euro in retail centers in 3 Bulgarian cities
FairPlay International (FPI), the Bulgarian construction and property development company, and Bulgarian Property Developments, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, have earmarked 80 mln euro for the construction of shopping malls in Plovdiv, Pleven and Vidin, said FairPlay executive director Mario Zahariev. The project in Pleven has so far made the fastest progress. Construction on a 3.65 ha site should get underway this summer with delivery seen in 2008.
Work on the retail center in Plovdiv will begin by the end of 2007 while the Vidin project is scheduled for kick-off in early 2008, said Zahariev. On Tuesday, FPI and Bulgarian Property Developments were granted a First Class Investor certificate by the local investment promotion authority for their 50 mln euro project Logistics Park Varna.
Located in the Western Industrial Zone in Varna, on the Black Sea coast, Logistics Park Varna has a total build-up area of more than 80,000 sq m, including high-quality warehouse space, administrative offices, and wholesale outlets, according to the website of Colliers International, the exclusive real estate consultant for the property.
In addition to standard warehouse space, Logistics Park Varna will provide specialised premises, including temperature-controlled storage and optional cross-docking facilities. The project has readily available infrastructure including electricity, water, natural gas and telecommunications.
The project will be delivered in three stages, with the first phase, comprising 24,000 sq m of total build-up area, scheduled for completion by March 2008.