Monthly Archives: May 2014

Leading real estate companies confirm the ongoing interest towards the offices in Sofia from international companies that are already in Bulgaria and are looking to relocate and from companies that are planning to outsource their business to Sofia. The companies that are interested in finding new office premises for their business include mainly companies from the IT sphere and the outsourcing business. These companies are looking for offices in Sofia of the highest class A, with good location along the main boulevards of the Bulgarian capital and the lines of the metro. The rental levels of the offices there are stable, ranging from 10 to 12 Euro/sq.m.

According to the real estate agents, the companies from the outsourcing business follow a policy of reducing their expenses, however they are not willing to make compromise with the location and standard of their offices. That is why these companies insist on large office premises in Sofia, which are equipped with all facilities they require and have the necessary parking and the desired location. Compared to the office markets in Europe, the prices of the offices in Sofia are quite competitive.

The member states of the passport free travel Schengen zone were five initially, when the Schengen area was formed back in year 1985. In the years that followed, the border free area was joined by many member states, namely Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. The largest expansion however happened in 2007, when the no internal border area was accepted the following countries as member states – Czech Republic and Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, Malta and Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. There are three countries that are waiting to be accepted as members. Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria are not fully fledged members of the Schengen zone, though they are technically ready to become members.

The member states of the Schengen area took certain measures, which were accepted as part of the cooperation efforts under the Schengen agreement. The main rules within the Schengen border free zone include removal of the checks on persons at the internal borders of the member states, a common package of rules applied to all people who are crossing the external borders of the European Union Member states. The rest of the rules include same entry conditions and visa rules for the short term stay, good police cooperation, strong judicial cooperation, fast extradition system, establishment and usage of the common Schengen Information System.

The real estate agents in Sofia confirm that there are new Sofia office projects and locations emerging on the market. These new projects are driven by the outsourcing and the IT sector. As a rule, the international companies that are outsourcing their business to Sofia city are looking for offices on Bulgaria Blvd. and Tsarigradsko Schousse Blvd. These companies are also interested in the offices in Sofia along the metro lines 1 and 2 – in the areas near Cherni Vrah Blvd. and Todor Alexandrov Blvd. The number of the available offices in Sofia however is going down as the rental contracts for Sofia office premises are expected to reach the levels from last year or 90 000 – 100 000 sq.m.

The prognoses of the real estate agents are that the large companies will focus towards high-quality office buildings in zones that have not been that attractive until now. Such areas include Sofia business centers near the airport, the upper zone of Tsarigradsko Schousse Blvd., the zone near Business Park Sofia and the southern part of the ring road. An important factor here is the approaching new lines of the city metro, which will make these locations easily approachable. Some companies from the IT sector and the outsourcing sector are already showing interest in the offices in that part of Sofia. The large office projects in Sofia city include Sofia Airport Center, Alfa Business Centre near the ring road, Bulgaria Tower office center, Megapark on Tsarigradsko Schousse Blvd.

The steady growth of the outsourcing sector in Sofia city led to serious situation on front of the office market investors. The companies from the outsourcing sphere are showing serious interest towards the highest class office buildings, namely business centers AA with all the facilities and extras they come with. The international companies that have picked Sofia as the destination to outsource their business have special requirements towards the office premises they intend to rent. It seems that Sofia city has many available offices, however only four or five of the business centers answer to the high requirements of the office buildings of class AA. Currently, there are two or three projects for office buildings of the same quality and high standard. The main set of offices for rent in Sofia that are available are with size ranging from 250 sq.m to 1000 sq.m, while the large companies from the outsourcing business looking to relocate their business practices in Sofia are looking for office premises with size of 1200 sq.m and larger.

The companies that are outsourcing their business to Sofia city are looking for large office premises in Sofia office centers of class AA, or two or more offices set on one floor. Many of these companies are also planning to expand the number of their employees in the future, thus most probably they will need even larger offices in Sofia to rent. Among the other requirements are the good location and the easy access to the local public transport system, large parking area, good air conditioning and ventilation system, wireless internet, etc.

Sofia city has new types of companies that rent the available office premises in the modern business buildings. More than half of the office buildings in Sofia are rented by outsourcing companies, which choose only high class AA office buildings. The outsourcing industry in Sofia grows significantly with the impressive 20-25 % per year and the companies in that sphere of the business seem to be the ones that are most active on the Sofia office market. The business of the outsourcing industry is associated with investments in call centers and service centers and these companies often need significant space to do their business.

That is why in year 2013, more than half of the office rental contracts were signed with companies working in the outsourcing sphere. This is good news for the real estate agents, however the outsourcing companies looking for offices to rent could be quite precise and demanding clients. Unfortunately, Sofia city has not so many office buildings of such a high class. It seems that the office market has to go in one direction – projects and construction of office buildings of the highest class AA. These business centers with offices have to enjoy central location or location in the organized business areas of Sofia. They should also have good transport connections and large parking areas.