Burgas rents equal those in Plovdiv

The retail market is still making progress stimulated by an increased supply of new retail space, meanwhile enriched with the first retail parks in the pipeline. One will be built in Plovdiv and another one, construction of which is set to start in 2009, in Targovishte.
The second, a 40,000-sq-m big-box and shopping mall scheme, is to be developed in a smaller town and will be located along the Sofia-Varna road. It will include a supermarket (5,045 sq m), a shopping mall with retail units and restaurants (14,625 sq m), stores for consumer electronics and home appliances, for furniture, building materials, etc. Space will be rented out and prices are said to be betweem 12 and 20 euros per sq m for the mall and about 8 euros per sq m for the larger big-box stores. These levels are equal to the lower end at shoppping centers in in Plovdiv and Sofia (5-20 euro per sq m).
Generally no significant changes have been seen in the rental levels since last month. Average rents in Sofia vary between 10 and 40 euros per sq m per month, while in Varna and Plovdiv they are within the 6-30-euros-per-sq-m range and 5-25 euros in Burgas. Rental levels for prime central stores in Varna are almost the same as those in the capital and reach 130 euro per sq m per month for 29sqm of retail space. Asking sales prices in the same area in Varna vary from 10,000 to 13,000 euros per sq m.
The most expensive shopping space in Sofia could still be found on Vitosha Blvd. with rental levels of 22-150 euros per sq m per month and asking prices from 6,000 to 47,000 euros per sq m (for 85-sq m shop). Retail space on Sofia’s other high-streets is sold for 20,000-22,000 euros per sq m at the utmost. A 22-sq-m store at Alabin St. is now for sale for 22,727 euros per sq m.
Plovdiv’s most expensive retail space is found in the city center too. Rents start from 3 and reach 80 euros per sq m per month. A 210-sq-m shop on Alexander Batenberg St.could be rented for 57 euros per sq m per month.
In Plovdiv’s center asking prices of retail space start from 630 euro for 84-sq-m premises. The highest sale price is 10,000 euros per sq m. Highest rents in Burgas, which used to range between 50 and 70 euros per sq m per month until recently, now have equaled to those in Plovdiv. The highest levels in the city center are about 80 euros per sq m and refer to a 60-sq-m unit. However, sales prices in the coastal city are half those in Plovdiv. A 12-sq-m store located on the central Bogoridi St. could be purchased for 4,200 euros per sq m. The highest asking level for retail space in the city is 5,000 euros per sq m. Four shopping centers are to be developed in Burgas.