Sat, Feb 11 2012

PROPERTY FOCUS: The Sofia Land-go-round

Mon, Jul 30 2007 09:00 CET

byYana Moyseeva

920 Views

A makeover of Sofia's former amusement park Sofia Land to add new facilities will be done in accordance with the changes under the new master plan for Sofia, Dnevik daily reported on July 19.

On that date, the municipal council decided that envisaged changes are to be finalised within up to six months, which probably means that the decision to change how the land is used will be taken by the city council that is elected in October.

According to Sofia's chief architect Petar Dikov, Sofia Land's owners have already asked the municipality for permission to change of the status of the land on which the amusement park was built. Dikov declined to disclose the name of the new owners or what they want to build on Sofia Land's 35-decare terrain.

He said that it would be best if the municipality gave building permission for just 10 per cent of the entire space. This would make it possible to build just three modern skyscrapers, 20-storeys each, leaving the remaining land for a park with trees and benches. In this way the interests of both investors and individuals who wanted to preserve green areas would be served, Dikov said.

Nonetheless, reportedly the new owner wants to put up a multifunctional building, a smaller version of Sofia's National Palace of Culture. This was said to Dnevnik daily by Sofia Municipality's directorate of architecture and urban planning.

According to experts, the area where Sofia Land is situated will have public use status. This status is seen as providing the best investment opportunities.

After the ownership of the amusement park changed a number of times through the years, Sofia Lands's latest owner is believed to be UK company Complete Entertainment Ltd. In the Bulgarian-language media, the company has been linked to First Investment Bank, which on a number of occasions has provided funding for Sofia Land projects.

In April, NC Industries published on its website an advertisement that Sofia Land was for sale and that its land use status was being changed. A week later the advert was removed from the site. However, the managing director of NC Industries, Nelly Beshirova, the only person authorised to speak about the Sofia Land project, could not be contacted by The Sofia Echo for comment.

The amusement park was closed in October 2006. It is in a rapidly developing area in Sofia, near Lozenets, one of the priciest neighbourhoods in the city. Close to Sofia Land are Tokuda Hospital, business centre Expo 2000, the Greenville Hotel, an upmarket sports complex and a number of car showrooms.

It has not been ruled out that the land will be used to build another shopping mall. Recently, such malls have been popular investments.

All this, however, will remain speculation until the new owner is made public or until Sofia Municipality decides the status of the land.

Meanwhile, Monitor daily reported that two new amusement complexes are planned near Sofia. Sofia municipality is currently deciding on planning permission.

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