Category: Offices for rent

Many investors are now showing interest in the Sofia office premises of highest quality. It is a fact that in 2013 and in the first three months of 2014, the Sofia offices of class A reached very stable rental levels. The real estate agents believe that this tendency will go on and they are positive that the choice of good quality offices will remain very good. The offices in Sofia that provoke the interest have several main characteristics – they have great location and a wonderful choice of amenities. The good location is a self-explanatory factor, as it means that the employees and the partners and clients of the company will have fast and easy access to the office by walking or by using the public transport. The choice of amenities include all those little things that every employee needs – excellent internet connection, wonderful maintenance, parking area and a great choice of dining places nearby.

The managers of the big companies that plan to relocate to Sofia and are looking for a modern office premise insist on the professional property management and maintenance. The good office management companies have the necessary knowledge and know-how to maintain such large office buildings in Sofia and they have experience.

The real estate agents confirm that the situation on the Sofia office market is stable and expect the rental levels of the prime office space in Bulgaria to increase in 2014. There is a serious interest in the office buildings in Sofia city in the recent months and this tendency is expected to increase the rental prices. The experts say that the good offices in the best business centers in Sofia will soon be rented for more than 10 Euros per square meter and these prices will remain stable. Currently, the rental levels of Sofia offices are around 7 – 9 Euros / sq.m and the interest towards the offices is very serious. There are many international companies that want to outsource their business to Sofia and many local companies that are in search of larger offices as they expand their business.

According to a research, the number of the completed office premises in Europe, the Middle East and Africa has increased significantly in 2013. This is due to the increased construction of office buildings at these markets. The experts predict that this tendency will continue and the office premises in places like Sofia and other capitals on the European capital will go up with 17 %. A great deal of the new office premises in Sofia and in the rest of the countries have already been rented, even before being completed.

Many local companies and a great deal of new international companies are looking for a new office in Sofia. Besides the location and the good maintenance, which the companies rank as most important when choosing an office, the managers are also interested in several other things. Many of the companies are looking for spacious open-plan offices with a height of the premises of 2.80 m, windows that could be open, cabling for internet and satellite television CAT 6, UPS, as well as energy efficiency façade, etc. All these elements of the Sofia offices are not taken individually, but as an entire package. When looking to relocate to a new office in Sofia, the companies are mainly in search of vast open premises with no partition walls. The company can use the office area in this way or can later add patrician walls. There are also companies that insist on Sofia offices with separate cabinets such as pharmacy companies, banks, lawyer offices. When the office is of the open space, the companies insist on 8 to 10 m distance between the columns.

Another thing that the companies in Sofia are looking for in their offices is presence of a parking area. Companies find that quite important both for the convenience of their employees and for their business partners. The companies are looking for location near the big boulevards and in the Business Park Sofia, which are well connected to the center of the capital. In general, today the companies know what they are looking for when searching for a new office in Sofia. They have certain requirements and are looking for a number of important characteristics in the new Sofia office they plan to relocate their business at. Among all the enumerated characteristics, we should also mention the rental price or the sales price of the offices, which is also a factor for the business companies.

There are many new office buildings in Sofia and a lot of local and international companies that are looking to relocate to a better and more comfortable office premise in the Bulgarian capital. There are several important things that all general managers look for when they are in need of a new office in Sofia city – the location and the maintenance. In the last two years, the companies looking to buy or rent an office in Sofia city are requiring office buildings with full service. The market situation shows that the office projects with good location and not so perfect parameters and the buildings with perfect technical parameters but unattractive location or low overall quality of services hardly ever attract the interest of the companies.

If a certain office building wants to attract and retain its company tenants, the developers and owners of office buildings should pay attention to the overall attractiveness of the location, the available property management and the offered maintenance, as well as the availability of dining places and public transport. Most of the big companies that are relocating to Sofia city are interested in the areas along the main boulevards. Other companies are looking for offices in the business centers of Sofia and yet others are interested in the downtown Sofia location. The location is associated with the access to the public transport including the metro. The other important criteria here include the time in which the maintenance company reacts when something is not working and then comes the rental fee. The least important factor for the companies searching for a Sofia office is the maintenance fee.

The potential of the Sofia office market is enormous according to real estate agents from leading brokerage companies. Many of the companies which are now outsourcing their business in Sofia and the companies which are already part of the business sector in Bulgaria are looking for fully furnished and well equipped offices in Sofia. The construction companies which are investing in office premises are now trying to provide modern office buildings with Sofia office premises around 200 and 250 sq.m. According to the real estate agents, there are not many available offices of the highest class A in the center of Sofia and there is a niche for them to be constructed. Such offices however are also on demand in the outskirts of the city, especially near the ring road.

The investors in office buildings in Sofia should know however that there is a tendency for the companies to sign rental contracts for shorter period of time. In the past the companies were signing rental contracts for their Sofia offices for ten years, now they are more willing to sign contracts for half of that period. Why is that so? The companies want to feel free to change the location and the office building in Sofia, in case they find out that the current office premises they are renting in Sofia do not answer their needs anymore. There is yet another trend on Sofia office market – the so called co-working process, where individuals rent a single working space where they can work together with people from other branches.

It seems that the office market in Sofia is already part of the new tendency that is already valid in the office markets of London, New York and Dubai. The offices in Sofia city are now coming with full equipment and furnishing. The international companies which are outsourcing their business in Sofia city seem to be very happy with that as they pay more for rent, but they also get more in terms of office premise conditions and access to various facilities and amenities. According to the information presented by the real estate experts, the Sofia offices that are mostly being rented have up to ten working premises and are fully furnished with stylish working desks and are connected to fast wireless internet and digital television, as well as a fixed telephone landline.

These new and modern Sofia office centers provide additional facilities such as meeting halls that could be reserved for a certain meeting, office equipment including scanner and printing machine. The Sofia office buildings of class A are offering office premises with cleaning and maintenance of the common parts, the fees for which are included in the monthly rental price. In other words, the situation on the Sofia office market is quite good, there are still offices of the highest class A which are available for sale and rent, tempting the companies with their excellent location and full range of available facilities and services.

During the last two years it became clear to the construction companies and the real estate agents, that the offices on demand in Sofia are the ones of the highest possible quality. The companies which are looking to open their new offices in Sofia and thus to outsource their business in Bulgaria, as well as the companies which have already opened offices in Sofia and now want to relocate are all looking for a few crucial things – good location, well covered by the public transport; high quality of the office premises and balanced sale / rental price. Some of these companies have already been renting business centers in Sofia of a lower quality and now they do not wish to make compromise.

Why are the companies looking for office premises in Sofia of class A? The answer is simple – they are looking for a good balance between work and life. The good managers know that in order to keep their business running and to keep their best employees in the team, they must offer a great selection of services and comforts. If the employees are happy, then they are giving 100 % in their daily activities and the company they work for makes a profit. It is as simple as that and the sooner the companies managers understand that, the better it will be for everyone. According to the real estate agents, there will not be bigger changes in the rental levels on the Sofia office market in 2014.

The sector of the business premises and offices in Sofia is in good place now, developing with steady steps and the business seems to feel certain optimism. The characteristics of the available office buildings in Sofia and the office centers that are in progress were discussed by leading real estate agents and investors. According to the real estate agents, who are experts on the office properties market in Sofia, the future projects for the construction of office buildings in Sofia will offer around 190 000 sq.m. However, the office projects of class A in Sofia that are currently being worked on comprise of around 60 000 sq.m.

In case the rental levels of Sofia office premises remain the same in the current years, the investors will find out that there is a lack of high quality office premises. Currently, in Sofia city are available 45 000 sq.m. of offices and the real estate experts say that each year around 100 000 sq.m of new offices in Sofia are being rented or purchased by new companies on the Bulgarian market or existing companies which are relocating. Currently, the interest of the investors is focused on the office buildings of the highest class A in Sofia, which have all the required facilities and amenities to offer to the people working there, public transport and access to good infrastructure.

Realtors from leading real estate agencies in Bulgaria confirmed that the interest towards the rental and sale of offices in Sofia is increasing. The investments made in the region of Central and Eastern Europe are getting more serious and this means that new companies will soon open offices in Sofia. These international companies have excellent reputation and developing business with a lot of potential and naturally they are looking only for the best offices for rent. Will Sofia city be able to offer such office buildings?

In the current year in Sofia city are expected to be completed two very large business centers in Sofia of class A, which will answer to the demand of the investors. These two projects are one of the office towers part of Bulgaria Mall and Capital Fort. There was a pre-launch of the office premises in these two office buildings in Sofia as any new companies have already rented offices there. This is a signal to the realtors that the office market situation in Sofia is improving but also a sign that the number of the available high-quality large office premises in the existing class A office buildings in Sofia is decreasing.

The areas in Sofia city that provoke the interest of the investors and foreign companies that wish to start business in Sofia are placed near the Business Park Sofia, along Tsarigradsko Schousse Blvd. and Bulgaria Blvd. There is still interest in offices in the center of Sofia, but there are not many large office premises available for sale or rent there. The rental levels of the offices of high class in Sofia city remain stable.

The real estate managers dealing with Sofia office premises confirm that there was an increase of 45% in the rental of offices in the capital of Bulgaria during year 2013. The increase in the interest towards the office buildings in Sofia was due to the expansion of certain companies that already take a place on the market. Realtors predict that this tendency will continue and during the current year the rented office premises of class A in Sofia will exceed the ones rented in 2013 which reached 110 000 sq.m. In 2014 the real estate agents predict that the office market will get new tenants – modern companies with serious plans for development and growth in the next two years. Currently are available enough office premises in office buildings of class A, which correspond to the international requirements, even though their number is decreasing with fast pace. This is so as there are not many new projects for the construction of office buildings of class A in Sofia.

Which are the requirements of the most active companies on the rental market of Sofia premises? The international companies which are relocating their business and are outsourcing part of their activities in the capital of Bulgaria work in the sphere of pharmacy, telecommunications and energetics. These outsourcing companies are looking for Sofia office premises with size that varies from 200 sq.m. up to 9000 sq.m. The tenant companies require flexible conditions on the rental contracts, functional layouts, proximity to trade areas, service zones and public transport. Such projects are Serdika Offices, European Trade Center, and Bulgaria Mall.