Marketing Suite At Sofia Airport Centre Opens

GE Real Estate Central and East Europe and US-based Tishman International inaugurated their Marketing Suite on March 4, an exhibition area revealing some of the products and services that will be available in the 250 million euro Sofia Airport Centre (SAC) on completion.

“It is a unique idea for Bulgaria – a showcase testbed for the products and finishes to be used in the establishment. The exhibition room will be open 24 hours a day, enabling prospective investors to come and see what they are renting,” Julian Edwards, Tishman general manager for Bulgaria, said.

The future mixed-use development will contain a hotel and an office section, constructed according to international Class A standards for offices, with retail, restaurant and back-up services on the ground floors and a logistic section at the rear side of the complex. Currently, BO2, the first industrial building, is under construction. For those interested, a webcam, accessed through the company’s website, reveals current on-site construction activity.

BO2 will welcome its first clients in April-May this year, Edwards said. It is expected that the logistic portion of the scheme would be completed by September 2008. Developers will soon announce the contractor for the first phase of the office compound, which is expected to open by Autumn 2009. The project envisages the construction of 18 000 sq m of logistics space. The first tenant in SAC, the Bulgarian branch of Hilti, a leading international company for construction innovations, signed a five-year contract for the lease of 1 000 sq m warehouse premises for an undisclosed sum.

Another two leases for the industrial area, covering a total area of about 5 000 sq m, are at later stages of negotiations. Logistics units rent at five euro a sq m per month, the adjoining office parts at 12 euro, and rooms in the office section will be let out at 16 euro a sq m, said Pepi Dimitrova, operations manager of Tishman International Ltd., at a news conference last November. When asked about prices today (March 4), executives refused to comment, saying that it is confidential corporate information. However, rumour has it that rents have increased to 5.75 euro a sq m for logistics units and 12.75 euro a sq m for adjoining Class B offices.

Cushman & Wakefield and Forton, the project's two agents, are also talking to a number of parties regarding the office buildings.