Which sectors are driving the office market in Sofia and what is available

The first half of year 2013 was marked with dynamic processes in the office market, compared to same sector a year ago. The real estate agencies registered activity in the demand for offices in Sofia, even when the office buildings are no yet fully completed. In general, the search activity of the companies has increased and as confirmation to that comes the fact that the rented office premises in Sofia for the first half of the year are 45% more than the last six months of the previous year. Currently, the rented offices in Sofia are approximately 75 000 sq.m, a real peak for the last 18 months. The companies that are most active on the Sofia office market are the outsourcing companies – research centers, call centers, and centers for financial services, as well as pharmaceutical companies, which are expanding their activities in Bulgaria, but also new companies that are yet coming to the Sofia market and are in search of offices of high class.

The new offices are with capacity of around 34 000 sq.m. and are mainly set in the outskirts of the city. There is a strong demand for Class A office space, however there are just 18 such office projects in Sofia, where many of them are almost fully occupied. During the next year several newly constructed office project in Sofia will be released, such as Bulgaria Tower and Capital Fort, which will offer a significant amount of space. There are companies which are looking for very large office premises in Sofia, a demand that will be answered by some of the newly constructed office buildings in Sofia. In general the predictions of the real estate companies are for lack of good modern offices by the end of the year.