After the successful start of the first shopping and leisure complexes in Bulgaria, new schemes quickly exhaust the opportunities for such projects in bigger cities in the country and even in some smaller towns like Pernik and Vidin.
With fewer and fewer remaining suitable building plots for shopping and business centers in big cities developers are eager to take up good potential spots. Three shopping mall projects will be realized in Rousse alone, a result of the investment interest that the city lying on the Danube River enjoys.
However, growing demand keeps rents stable. Compared to 2006, in Q2 they grew by around 50% in big cities like Sofia and Varna. The most expensive shops in the capital city are on Vitosha Blvd. where an 18-sq m store is for rent for EUR 200 per sq m per month. At another high-street, Rakovski, where before the opening of the malls there was practically no vacancy now the top price is EUR 80 per sq m in a newly-built building. Prices on Hristo Botev Blvd. now reach EUR 78 per sq m. For as much as between EUR 45 and EUR 50 shops could be found on boulevards crossing the broad center like Madrid, Bulgaria, Maria Louisa, and on even Montevideo blvd. For such price a 60-sq m unit in the shopping area of the main boulevard of Ovcha Kupel neighborhood could find a tenant. And a little more - EUR 58 per sq m - is the tag of a shop on Bulgaria Blvd. that covers 464 sq m built-up area.
In the center of Varna, the top rent is EUR 143 per sq m per month, as in Plovdiv it is around EUR 100 per sq m. The maximum rental level in Bourgas stands a little lower at EUR 68 per sq m.
The rental levels in shopping centers and malls in the capital city are between EUR 25 and EUR 55 per sq m, while top prices in Plovdiv are EUR 50 per sq m, and in Varna they can reach even EUR 60 per sq m.
Between EUR 17,000 and EUR 20,000 per sq m stands the typical asking sale price for top retail space in Sofia, according to sellers. These are the standard asking prices for central streets like Rakovski and Vitosha. For the center of Varna top prices exceed EUR 10,000 per sq m. In Plovdiv they range from EUR 7,000 to EUR 8,000 per sq m, and in Bourgas the highest asking price is EUR 7,000 per sq m.
Top prices of shops in Sofia and Plovdiv shopping centers exceed EUR 3,000 per sq m. Retail space in shopping center under construction on Sofia Mladost neighborhood’s Alexander Malinov Blvd. is offered for EUR 3,070 per sq m. EUR 5,140 per sq m have been asked for a 22-sq m shop in a luxury retail center in Plovdiv. |