The new Bulgaria Mall is making progress on Bulgaria Blvd. in Sofia. The construction will have built-up area reaching 80 000 sq.m. with nearly 25 000 sq.m. shopping areas, 20 000 sq.m. office areas plus luxury apartments. It is expected the investment to reach the amount of 80 million euros. Salamanca Capital Investments - a real estate investment management company based in London, managing over 1 milliard euros in various funds and developments - is the main investor of the project. First stage of realizing the large complex started in 2005 with the purchase of 15 000 sq.m. of land on Bulgaria Boulevard in Sofia near a Billa outlet. Surveying and planning activities were completed in 2006 while the building works will begin in the middle of 2007. The complex should be finished in 2009.

2006 was the year of shopping malls in Sofia with two of them opened in the very center of the city and many others being under development now. Some of the biggest projects of this kind are the commercial facility near the Sofia airport of the French company Carrefour with built-up area of 63 000 sq.m. estimated to 81,6 million euros; the complex of the Spanish Riofisa close to the Sofia central station, which is expected to cost 335 million euros and shall be ready in 2010; another Spanish company Fadesa also announced investment interest to build in the center of Sofia a multifunctional complex, which will be situated on surface of 14 000 sq.m.

Investing on the market of business buildings and commercial facilities proves to be the most profitable. Big investment companies are also attracted by the stable and secure Bulgarian market with its business areas sector expected to develop from now on. The construction of large multifunctional buildings, combining residential with business spaces, has been provoked also by the demand for office and commercial areas in Sofia as a trade center. More than 100 000 sq.m. of office areas appeared on the market for the previous year and thus the surface of such kind of properties in the Capital reached half a million sq.m. Still the demand for quality offices exceeds the offering which maintains the rental prices high and guarantees the stable capital returns of such investments

Source: www.bgp.bg