German developer and investor ECE Projektmanagement announced plans on October 4 to spend 150 million euros on a new retail centre in coastal Varna, company officials told ivnestor.bg.

The project, dubbed Cherno More Park will have 54 000 sq m in built-up space. On completion, scheduled for 2010, the project will house more than 220 shops.

Preferred tenants will be vendors of international fashion brands, consumer electronics, sports goods. The company is yet to decide which retailer will be running the park's supermarket.

ECE has already been working on two retail projects in Bulgaria, both in the capital. While Serdika Centre Sofia, with an estimated cost of 180 million euros, will have 50 000 sq m in retail and 35 000 sq m of office space, Europe Centre Sofia will have 70 000 sq m of retail space. The construction of the first project has already been launched, while the second is to be given a start shortly. Both projects have been awarded a First Class Investor Certificate.

At present, the Hamburg, Germany-based company runs 90 retail centres, all in Europe. Another 26 are in a planning or development stages.