Bulgaria Cheap Properties

Israeli real estate developer Electra Group has started construction on its first Bulgarian project a gated residential community in Varna, to be named Botanic VIP Residence, the companys sales manager Petar Petrov told Dnevnik daily on March 30.The complex, in immediate proximity to Varna botanical gardens, will cover 1.2 ha of land and will comprise seven buildings, with a total of 216 apartments. According to Israeli media, Electra acquired the plot with the ready project in 2006 at the price of 4.56 million euro.

The financial crunch and a feeble dollar are not such bad news for the United States property market, Pari daily reported.The classic business maxim that one should buy at times of falling prices is about to attract largescale real estate investment from all over Europe and a number of Arab countries. Bulgarian property companies, working with American partners, have already observed increased demand from Bulgarians for houses and holiday properties in the US, Pari said.

The resort village of Kamchiya, located 28 km southward from Varna, will attract significant investment to the tune of between 200 and 250 million euro over the next two or three years, Avren municipality mayor Krassimir Todorov said, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency BTA. The projected investment will add between 12 000 and 15 000 new beds to the capacity of the holiday compound, he added.

European Convergence Property Company investment fund ECPC, the owner of Central Mall in Veliko Turnovo, said in a filing with the London Stock Exchange on March 31 that it had received a number of offers for the retail centre. quot;The Company is hopeful that a sale can be concluded in the near future. The property is currently carried at fair value measured at its last revaluation date of January 2007, quot; ECPC said in its interim report.

Bulgarias Directorate for National Construction Supervision DNCS has issued a total of 193 orders for the demolition of illegally constructed buildings, including 94 on the north coastline and 99 along the southern coast, DNCS head Ivan Simitchiev told a news conference in Bourgas on March 31, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.All of the developments were located on the beachfront.

A modern office and retail centre will spring up on the site of the former Ramstore hypermarket in Sofias Zapaden Park Western Park neighbourhood, Dnevnik daily reported. The project, which is still in an incipient stage, is developed by the plotowner Israeli national Ori Niv and his company On Bulgaria.Niv told Dnevnik that he had already designed the office project. Niv acquired the land from Turkish retailer Migros, who owns Ramstore chain, in February 2007 for 8.5 million euro.

No significant changes in prices or sale volumes in the Bulgarian property market have been recorded since the turn of the year. Prices will remain stable and are unlikely to increase by more than five to 10 per cent in 2008, Liron Or, Engel East EuropeBulgarias executive director, told investor.bg.Real estate prices in the country, and particularly land and plots, have appreciated significantly. Currently, they account for as much as 3550 per cent of the end sale price of enterprises developed on the plots. This is too large a share, compared to the average of 2540 per cent in most European countries, Liron Or explained.

Sofias office space market registered another quarter of strong performance at the end of 2007, according to the latest MBL consultancy report. The number of class A and B offices continued to grow, amounting to 784 000 sq m as of the end of fourth quarter of 2007, after a new delivery of 48 350 sq m office areas, all of them in suburban areas, according to research from MBL.

At their annual meeting on 25 March, the shareholders of FairPlay Properties Real Estate Investment Trust REIT decided to distribute eight million leva of the companys profit for 2007 as dividend, the company said in a statement.The general meeting also elected a new board of directors with members Manyu Moravenov, Ivailo Panov and Svetoslav Soltariev.

The Bourgasbased building company Masterbuild Ltd will develop holiday complexes in the village of Kableshkovo and Medovo near Pomorie, company representatives said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. The Medovo holiday community will cover a 100 000 sq m plot, embracing 64 residential buildings with housing units ranging from 95 to 214 sq m in size. The gross actual area of the compound is calculated at