Sun, Nov 08 2009
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.
Office rent transactions peaked at 65 000 sq m between July and September 2008, but collapsed to 10 700 sq m in Q3 2009, Forton manager Sergei Koinov said.
Most potential buyers are now opting to buy a luxury flat in the range of 120 000 to 150 000 euro or a single family home for about 500 000 euro.
About 30 000 to 35 000 people employed in the construction sector were facing redundancies in 2010, Bulgaria's Regional Development Minister Rossen Plevneliev said on October 26.
Average market prices of housing in Bulgaria dropped five per cent in July-September, measured quarter-on-quarter, the National Statistical Institute said on October 23 2009.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has released a 43.5 million euro loan to Sofia Municipality, for infrastructure projects worth 88.1 million euro in total