The pace of shopping centre development has picked up in Bulgaria, according to a new report by property advisor Colliers International. Projects with more than 138,000 m[sup]2[/sup] of gross lettable area (GLA) went into development in the first six months of the year alone, adding to the 60,000 m[sup]2[/sup] already being built. Three major new shopping centres - Carrefour Mall, Serdika Center in Sofia and Mall Stara Zagora - broke ground in 2007.
The pace of shopping centre development has picked up in Bulgaria, according to a new report by property advisor Colliers International. Projects with more than 138,000 m2 of gross lettable area (GLA) went into development in the first six months of the year alone, adding to the 60,000 m2 already being built. Three major new shopping centres - Carrefour Mall, Serdika Center in Sofia and Mall Stara Zagora - broke ground in 2007.
The Black Sea port of Varna – where Colliers established an office two years ago - is attracting a lot of interest from developers and investors. There are five projects located within a 1-km radius in the city, Colliers said. Two of projects, Pfohe Mall and Mall Varna, are scheduled for delivery in 2008.
Atanas Garov, managing director of Colliers Bulgaria, commented: ' Our research shows that retail in Bulgaria continues its rapid expansion. Prospects are very promising as the Bulgarian retail market is still vastly undersupplied, while tenants are bullish on their expansion plans.'
