Shortage of office space in Sofia

Real estate experts predict a shortage of office space in the capital city of Bulgaria, Sofia. The number of the available space is limited and the construction of new business centers in Sofia is not to the best levels. It seems that the international companies that are working in the sphere of business services and information technologies in Sofia will soon face a shortage of office space that corresponds to their requirements. The number of the available office premises in the top 10 office buildings in Sofia which have been preferred by the tenants have dropped to 7.5%.

The area of the office buildings under construction at the end of March 2013 reached 236 000 sq.m, while an year later in March 2014 the Sofia office buildings in construction had only 143 000 sq.m. The real estate agents expect only 105 000 sq.m of brand new office premises to reach the market in 2014 and 2015, in case the office buildings are completed within the deadlines stated. As expected, the companies are still looking for office premises of class A, located close to Bulgaria Blvd. and Tsarigradsko Schousse Blvd.

In the first quarter of 2014 were put into operation 30 000 sq.m of office premises in Sofia. Since 20 000 sq.m were already rented through preliminary rental contracts that were signed during the construction of the office buildings. This means that only 10 000 sq.m of office premises were actually available for rent by the time they were officially released. The companies that were most active on the office market in the first eight months of 2014 were coming from the IT and the outsource spheres. Sofia city remains the most sought after spots in Europe for outsourcing of business activities in these spheres.