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In year 2013 were constructed almost 70 000 sq.m of new administrative premises and office areas. The increase is significant f compared with the situation on the office market in 2012. The new projects for office buildings that started are focused mainly on small office premises and many of them are arranged for the usage of the companies that own the land and the property. Usually these are office projects that have been prepared long time ago, but have been postponed because of the financial situation of the past few years. Still, the real estate experts say that time has to pass until the complete recovery of the office market in Sofia and this recovery will be reached once 80 000 sq.m. of new office premises are started each year.

The large office buildings that are in project have been started several years ago. Among these large projects are the business center City Tower, the construction of which is postponed. Another large project is the Millenium Center which is in construction but it goes slowly and is expected to be completed in 2015. These new business buildings are expected to bring another 90 000 sq.m of new office premises in Sofia. The office centers that are planned to be completed in 2014 include the Capital Fort project on Tsarigradsko Schousse Blvd., Grammy Complex on Alexander Malinov Blvd. and Bulgaria Towers center, which is the office part of Bulgaria Mall. Further to be completed in the third section of Expo 2000 business center in Sofia city. The new office centers in the area are expected to increase the competition, the quality and the good maintenance of these business centers in the next few years.

In the past few years in Sofia city were constructed many modern offices that correspond to the highest requirements in that sphere. The new offices in Sofia use modern technologies and special systems for reducing the expenses and allow the companies to save up to 30% on their bills. A good example of such modern office building of the highest class A is Sofia Airport Center, placed in close proximity to Sofia Airport. The business center works with an energy-saving air-conditioning and ventilation system and with an automatic system for building management. Thanks to these two systems, the building has constant level of temperature between 22 and 24 degrees, which is believed to be best for the health and the tonus of the employees. Thanks to the good ventilation of the building and the fresh air that comes in the premises, the employees get ill 39 % less than the employees working in the old congenital office buildings. Many of the new and modern office in Sofia have such management and ventilation systems and provide more daylight in the office premises, which has positive effect on the employees.

The most sought after office buildings in Sofia are situated along the two main boulevards – Bulgaria and Tsarigradsko Schousse. There is also interest towards the area along “Cherni Vrah” Blvd., which is now serviced by the new metro line. At the same time there is also interest towards the Sofia offices near the Business Park in Mladost and near the Ring Road. The rental levels of Sofia offices remain stable and vary in the price range of 8-12 Euro/sq.m.

The market of Sofia offices is stable and is expected to remain so in the year ahead of us. The companies that are renting offices in Sofia have their preferences of the location and size, which depends on the sphere of work and the number of their employees. In general the companies that are opening offices in Sofia are looking for central location, in case they plan to employee several people only. These small companies are looking for offices with size between 250 and 300 sq.m. In general these are consulting companies, lawyers and notary offices.

The larger companies from the outsourcing sphere which are planning to open their offices in Sofia or to relocate to a new office thanks to their expansion include offices from the IT, pharmaceutical and telecommunication business. These companies are in search of large and spacious offices in Sofia outside the city center. At the same time there are a few office buildings in the center which do not catch the eye of the companies. This is so as they are located I areas with no parking zone and difficult access or because they come with high rental prices.

Many companies that already have offices in Sofia are planning to rent additional premises or to move to other business centers with more room and potential, as well as with better facilities. This is expected to be the trend of the Sofia office market in 2014. According to the real estate agents, the Bulgarian office market will be strongly influenced by the outsourcing processes and the fact that many companies are now moving their businesses from Asia into Europe.

Sofia office market is driven by those large international companies which are opening their offices in the Bulgarian capital and by the companies which are already on the market but wish to relocate due to the increase of the work load and the number of their employees. The situation on Sofia market could be explained like that – there are plenty of offices on offer, but the selection is limited. This is a problem that many large international companies are to be facing on the Sofia office rental market in the months to come. Why is this so? Many construction companies focused on residential projects rather than in the office projects during the crises, while at the same time many international companies started seeing Sofia as a great destination for outsourcing. That is why many of the available and completed office premises and the ones in the business centers near completion were rented. Actually the business centers with greatest occupancies are placed on some of the largest boulevards.

The expectation of the real estate companies is that the outsourcing companies coming to Bulgaria will focus on the areas near the metro stations in Sofia. This means that some locations that were not popular until now will become more appealing in the next two years to come. The business centers with the highest number of rented office premises include the Europеan Trade Center with 95%, Megapark with more than 80%, as well as Sopharma Business Towers, Litex Tower and Polygraphia Office Center, followed by Serdika Offices.

For two years in a row the Sofia office market is driven by the companies from the IT sphere and the outsourcing area. These are the main companies that show interest in the office premises in Sofia and have rented the largest number of offices in the first three quarters of year 2013. The country and especially its capital Sofia is attracting the attention of the international companies which are oriented towards customer support and business processes. These companies open offices in Sofia as they are tempted by the low levels of expenses for labor, taxes and rental prices. This is good for Bulgaria, since these companies are hiring local people and are offering good working conditions.

In the recent years however, the construction of offices of class A has decreased and the number of new luxurious offices that are completed has dropped. At the same time, this brought to an investment activity. The ten office projects of the highest class in Sofia are attracting the attention of the greatest number of the companies which are looking for an office to rent. That is why the available office premises in this ten office buildings in Sofia is decreasing and the available office premise there is just 12 %. Hopefully, the construction companies will take note of that and will start new business projects for construction of Sofia offices of the highest class.