Bulgarian Office Space

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 August 2011 08:06 Tuesday, 02 August 2011 08:03

Several years will be needed for the new office space in the Bulgarian capital Sofia to be absorbed by the market, according to a report of Colliers International.

The total area of "modern office space" in Sofia has reached 1.378 million square meters in the first half of 2011, a growth of 5% year-on-year, with many new buildings completed in the outskirts of the city, reveals the report of Colliers International, a real estate consultancy.

About 65% (898 000 square meters) of the office space in Sofia are located in the suburbs, while 21% are in the greater city center, and 14% are in the downtown.

According to Colliers, in the first half of 2011, the unoccupied office space in Sofia has reached 26% of the total area on the market, or 357 000 square meters. Of those, 252 000 square meters are located in the suburbs.

"The absorption of the modern office space will take several years," said Anton Slavchev, office space manager at Colliers International Bulgaria, explaining, "In the years before the crisis, the net absorption varied between 80 000 and 120 000 square meters per year. With over 350 000 square meters of unoccupied offices and over 460 000 under construction we can hardly expect a recovery of the office market."