Bulgarian Property Market

In the southwestern Bulgarian town of Sandanski close to the Greek border, on November 27 plans for a new business centre are set to be unveiled, or the project designated as BG2005 017454.020120. The new business centre aims to facilitate business development in the region, stimulate agriculture output and develop tourism in the town, and promote transborder cooperation and development with Greece, as reported by Stroitelstvo weekly.

The number of construction permits issued by Bulgarian authorities in JulySeptember 2008 was 1.5 per cent lower compared to the previous quarter, at 4327 versus 4355, data from the National Statistical Institute data showed on November 26. Albeit small, it was the third quarter of decline over the past 12 months and the trend is expected to continue as the number of permits fluctuates seasonally with fewer applications in winter, but also because the global credit crunch has forced developers to roll back planned investments.

Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov has issued an order forbidding construction for a year at Kaliakra, a natural site on the northern Bulgarian Black Sea coast whose preservation has been hotly fought for by environmentalists. The ministry announced this in a press statement on November 23 2008.

Try to imagine a colossal skyscraper in place of the statue of Sofia in the centre of the city. It would have happened too, if communistera ambitions had been realised.The idea of a skyscraper in Sofia goes back more than 40 years, with buildings planned near the central train station, the Solni Bazar market, on the intersection of Cherni Vruh and James Bourchier boulevards, yet circumstances always conspired against such undertakings. In recent years, dozens of projects have been put forth, every one of them claiming to be the first one.

Bulgarian company CBA Property Investment, the real estate division of discount retailer CBA Bulgaria, has teamed up with an unnamed Israeli investor to raise a fivestar congress centre and a shopping mall in Veliko Turnovo.The news was announced during Israeli ambassador Noah Gal Gendlers visit to the town in central Bulgaria. Veliko Tarnovo offers investment opportunities in construction, transport, tourism and trade, Gendler said.

An 0.8 h amp;1072; land plot in the industrial park of the town of R amp;1086;usse on the Danube River will go up for sale with a starting price of 25 euro a sq m. Mayor Bozhidar Yotovs proposal to sell the land needs only the municipal councils approval to go through.

The construction of the largest and most advanced velodrome in South Eastern Europe is set to begin in early 2009 in the central Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. The modern facility will be constructed in the picturesque town, over an area of 12 hectares. It will be an Olympicsized complex, fully covered, and will be located at Iztochen Boulevard and Naicho Tsanov Street, Stroitelstvo Gradut weekly wrote on November 24 2008.