Sofia has changed dramatically over the past two decades. The change began in the central and neighboring territories of the central city. Mostly housing and offices were built, as well as malls. In recent years, shopping centers have become obsolete, but they are being replaced by the so-called retail parks. The latter are something like a larger version of the mall and can be located in the more remote city districts. Their goal is to create the effect of the so-called 15-minute city, namely, within a distance of 15 minutes, residents will have everything they need, such as shops, restaurants, entertainment.
In recent years, retail parks have been opened outside smaller cities, such as Pernik, Elin Pelin, Dupnitsa, Troyan, Sevlievo and others. To date, there are 60 of them in the country, and their total area is 594,000 sq m. For comparison, this is
Similar parks, however, can also be located in some districts of the capital. The latest example of this is "Hadji Dimitar". In recent years, the capital district has attracted quite a few commercial investors. However, the market can apparently absorb more, since the "first sod" of the Estrea commercial park was laid today.
The investment is worth 20 million EUR, and the investment is from the Belgian Mitiska REIM, Park Lane Development (part of AG Capital) and the EBRD. The new commercial park will have a total lettable area of over 14,000 sq m. and over 300 parking spaces (calculations indicate that there should be at least 1 parking space per 35-40 sq m). The location was not chosen by chance - over 243,000 people in over 107,000 households live within a 10-minute drive of it. Such a retail park is successful even if it is located in a place with a population of 30,000 people.
The key tenant in the retail park will be one of the large chains of fast-moving consumer goods stores. However, there will be great competition, since a similar store of another chain already exists and operates next to the future park.
One of the reasons why the retail park market is developing in our country at this very moment is that the Bulgarian market offers an opportunity for this. On the one hand, the incomes of the population are increasing, and traders are looking for modern and strategically located retail spaces.
Park Lane Development's plans are quite ambitious. They intend to build another 10 retail parks together with Mitiska REIM. Three of them are already being actively worked on and the plans are to be presented by the end of 2025.
After Estrea, "Kotvata" will be launched for construction in the capital's "Nadezhda" district - also densely populated and with a really large number of customers. It will also be located near the store of a large FMCG chain, which is already operating.
The third retail park will probably be located again in Sofia, in the "Ovcha Kupel" district.
Detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by city and neighborhood can be seen HERE