Law firm Kinstellar has successfully represented OTP Bank and its Bulgarian subsidiary, DSK Bank, in negotiating a €25 million loan for the construction and operation of Balkan Business Center, a major office complex in Sofia.

Cyprus-based real estate developer Everty Group intends to invest up to €100 million in Bulgaria during the next four years. The announcement follows the group's first major investment in Bulgaria, the acquisition of the 40,000 sqm Perform Business Centre in central Sofia back in 2019.

GTC Bulgaria has informed that the varied tenant portfolio of Advance Business Center II will be enriched by Commerzbank. One of the largest German banks will lease over 3,500 sqm GLA of office space starting 1st December 2020. The pre-leasing agreement was consulted by CBRE. Advance Business Center II is under construction phase and due for delivery in Q4 2020.

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak seems to be having a severely negative impact on market sentiment across the CEE region, according to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Q1 2020 figures show that both rental and capital value expectations have been downgraded across the region with retail expected to see the sharpest decline and industrial proving to be the most resilient asset class.

The coronavirus outbreak continues to affect people and economies deeply. In the latest online panel organized by Property Forum, three real estate professionals discussed the impacts of the coronavirus crisis on the Bulgarian property market.

The office market in Sofia faces a significant slowdown, due to the economic uncertainty and weakening business activity caused by COVID-19, according to the latest market report of Forton, a strategic partner of Cushman & Wakefield for Bulgaria and Macedonia.

Property Forum’s series of virtual events, organised in partnership with the RICS, continues with a free online panel discussion providing a market update for Bulgaria. Attendance is free but registration is mandatory.

The construction industry seems to have been relatively less affected than some other industries (like tourism) as most large projects continue during the lockdown measures across the region. The Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association has published a COVID-19 update on the construction sectors of Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia.

The preliminary investment volumes for the CEE region for Q1 2020 have reached ca. €3.7 billion, despite the onset of COVID-19 in CEE at the beginning of March. This volume was significantly boosted by the ca. €1.3 billion acquisition of the Residomo portfolio in the Czech Republic by Heimstaden, however, it still represents a y-o-y growth of 68% over Q1 2019 (ca. €2.2 billion) and 28% over Q1 2018 (ca. €2.9 billion).

According to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor, occupier and investment sentiment remains mostly positive across main CEE markets with the exception of Bulgaria where the outlook is slightly negative. Retail continues to suffer across the region as demand for retail assets fell on both the occupier and investment sides of the market in most countries.