Sat, Jul 04 2009
The average price of lodgings in older buildings in the centre of Plovdiv has nearly doubled over the past year, investor.bg quoted Europolis real estate agency as saying.
In the end of June 2008, a sq m in the city centre cost 900 euro, while a year earlier the price was 520 euro.
According to the company, apartments in newly built buildings currently cost 770 to 1000 euro a sq m, but near-future prices of up to 1800 euro per sq m were not improbable.
The price increase for old constructions was a result of the recent development of property market, while newly constructed apartments had become more expensive because of the price increase of construction materials, the company said.
Europolis predicted a slight increase in the prices of property in new developments by the end of the year.
The project will be financed by the Bulgarian Bank for Development, and the Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas, or Jessica Programme, although the report has so far failed to reveal the total cost of the vast enterprise.
The strategic plan envisages the conservation of the nature "for decades ahead", and it was formulated by a municipal team headed by professor Ivan Nikiforov, backed by Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.
Once the overhaul and reconstruction of the Sofia–Vidin line is complete, it will cut travel time to three hours, as the train will be able to reach speeds of up to 160 km/h, shortening the journey to three hours.
Marriott however has made it clear that is not interested in investing in construction, but rather to occupy and manage existing buildings. Its strategy is to obtain management contracts.
Investors realise that it’s not viable to have a building remaining empty over the course of a year – so it's better for them to employ more flexibility to offset that loss.