Fri, Feb 10 2012
Plovdiv's architectural studio Arkont-A won the tender called to pick a design for the renovation of the city's central railway station, mediapool.bg reported.
The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) has said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily, that the investor selected to do the renovation will also be granted building permission for additional construction in the area as compensation.
The architectural project amounts to 150 million euro and envisions building two glass domes with a diameter of 25m, the construction of retail and residential complex as well as complicated infrastructure of underground tunnels connecting Plovdiv's centre with the southern part of the city.
The new buildings will be owned by the investor, NRIC has said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.
Further negotiations with the defense and finance ministries regarding the land plots selected for the new construction are expected to take place within the upcoming six months. The reason is that, currently, the offices of the National Revenue Agency are located on the land plot.
At the same time, according to mediapool.bg, Sofia's central railway station will also undergo renovation, which as of now is estimated at 35 million leva. The project features the construction of a multi-functional building with office and retail spaces as well as a parking lot.
Interest in the Sofia project so far has been expressed from Spanish investor Riofisa, which already has a project in the vicinity of the rail station, in addition to Italian and Austrian developers.
Project's architect said he was inspired by the beautiful, elegant and practical structures in Vienna, which served for the model of his neoclassical architecture.
Average market prices of homes in Sofia fell by one per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010, according to the Raiffeisen Real Estate Index, as quoted by Klasa daily.
Proportionately, the number of transactions in leva increased as people reacted to speculation that the euro would disappear.
Nearly all banks are ready to finance between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the price of a home, provided it is a good building in a large city, Bulgarian daily says.
Property prices in Bulgaria were five to 10 per cent lower in 2011 than in 2010, while initial estimates for this year are that they will remain largely unchanged, with transactions remaining at ‘crisis levels’.
Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia ranks 17th, report says, quoting Global Property Guide.