Chasing Builders in Varna – Bulgaria

Posted on 18.06.2008 by Bulgarian Properties

Construction works in Bulgaria’s Black sea capital – Varna has been banned for the summer season. However, on May 24 City hall officials have spent the public holiday playing hide and seek games with construction workers. That was announced by the mayor of Varna’s Primorski district, Plamen Gradinarov, as quoted by the local Cherno More daily newspaper.

Gradinarov was referring to the order issued by Varna mayor Kiril Yordanov, according to which all construction works should be put on hold for the duration of the summer season, which already started.

Nevertheless, at 6.45am on May 24, when Bulgaria was preparing to celebrating the day of Slavonic alphabet, residents of one of Varna’s affluent neighborhood Chaika, next to the sea garden, alarmed Gradinarov that a company was working on a construction site.

It is said that workers were trying to lay the concrete foundation of a five star hotel. Gradinarov’s employees had to chase the workers around, who ran away the minute Gradinarov’s people arrived at the construction site.

After being “ambushed” Gradinarov said the workers were caught and fined.

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About Sofia region in Bulgaria

Posted on 17.06.2008 by Bulgarian Properties

Sofia Province borders on three sides to the city of Sofia, but does not include it. Because of the large area and population of Bulgaria’s capital, the city has been marked as a separate province. The district has a territory of 7 059 sq.km and has 273 240 inhabitants. It includes 22 municipalities: Anton, Botevgrad, Bozhurishte, Chavdar, Chelopech, Dolna Banya, Dragoman, Elin Pelin, Etropole, Ihtiman, Godech, Gorna Malina, Koprivshtitsa, Kostenets, Kostinbrod, Mirkovo, Pirdop, Pravets, Samokov, Slivnitsa, Svoge and Zlatitsa.

The landscape has mainly mountainous features. To the north are the southern slopes of the Balkan Mountains and to the south rises Rila with the highest mount on the Balkan peninsula – Mount Musala. There are also several smaller mountains and spacious valleys. One of the most prominent ski resorts in Bulgaria, Borovets, is located just a few kilometers from Samokov, in the heart of Rila Mountain.

The region is a well-developed industrial area. Mining and metallurgy are the backbone of the economy with the largest copper refinery in South Eastern Europe in Pirdop and important copper mines at Chelopech and Etropole. Machinery is well developed in Botevgrad (buses, car components, electronics), Pravets (computers), Etropole, Samokov, Elin Pelin, Ihtiman, Slivnitsa, Godech. The centre of food, sugar & chocolate industry is Svoge. This is also the birthplace of bass/baritone opera singer and musician Boris Damianov.

Elin Pelin, known previously as Novoseltsi, is situated in in the Sofia Valley, with the slopes of the Balkan Mountains to the north and Sredna Gora to the south-southeast, 24 km southeast of the capital. The area has been inhabited since antiquity. A Slavic settlement was founded in the Middle Ages and existed until the early Ottoman rule of Bulgaria.

The town of Elin Pelin (then Novoseltsi) became a local cultural and trade centre during the Bulgarian National Revival. Its importance continued to grow with the construction of the Sofia–Septemvri) railway line and the establishment of the Izida ceramic factory, the first in the country. Despite everything, Elin Pelin is most popular for being the birth place of the noted Bulgarian writer Elin Pelin. It was renamed in his honor in 1950 and was proclaimed a town in 1960.

Koprivshtitsa is one of the most popular historic town in Bulgaria. It lies on the Topolnitsa River among the Sredna Gora mountain. It was one of the centres of the April Uprising in 1876 and is known for the well-preserved authentic Bulgarian architecture and for its folk music festivals, making it a very popular tourist destination.

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Office premises in Sofia – Ever expanding

Posted on 17.06.2008 by Bulgarian Properties

According to Bulgarian property investment experts from Cushman & Wakefield, almost half of the newly planned offices for the next three years in Sofia might suffer a lack of renters. That was announced on the recently held assembly on the topics of commercial properties, organized by foreign real estate advisors.

The forecast is based on Cushman & Wakefield’s data for all administrative buildings under construction or project. They claim that the total area of these developments is more than 1.52 million sq. m, which will lead to a triple increase in the offered space for the next three years. The demand, however, will increase with much slower trends.

The British advisors estimate the demand increase at 20% which is expected to lead to 200 000 sq.m rented office premises, compared to last year’s 160 000 sq.m. Based on that figure, they expect demands for 240 000 sq.m next year and 290 000 sq.m in 2010. Other real estate advisers also share this opinion, stating that Sofia’s property market cannot bear more that 1 million sq.m new office space.

On the other hand, Colliers International expect moderate trends in equalizing the supply and demand. They reminded that although there are many planned projects, many of them are likely to be postponed or canceled. They believe the expectations for new developments are overrated. After all, it seems that Sofia property investors have proven to experience no serious obstacles selling their developments.

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