Sun, Nov 08 2009
The opening of the first hypermarket of Swedish home furnishings chain IKEA in Bulgaria is one step closer to happening, as Fourlis, the company to develop the chain on the Balkans, told investor.bg that the hypermarket would be opened in Sofia's Vitosha neighbourhood in the beginning of 2010.
Fourlis announced that it had finalised the purchase of a plot for the first hypermarket of the chain in Bulgaria. The plot was of 60 000 sq m and, as reported in February 2008, worth nearly 12 million euro.
Fourlis has not yet assigned a company to build the hypermarket and refused to comment on whether it would be a Bulgarian or a Greek one. However, if it wants to complete the project on time, it will have to select a company soon, as the construction of the development will take nearly 18 months, Fourlis representatives told investor.bg.
IKEA is planned to have opened two to three hypermarkets in Bulgaria - in Sofia and in Varna and/or Bourgas, investor.bg wrote.
The company even considered opening a second store in the country, report says.
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