Mall of Sofia kicks off

City-planning

The largest shopping, business and entertainment centre in Bulgaria, Mall of Sofia, was officially opened on June 9.
Attending the ceremony were diplomats, government representatives, officials from Sofia municipality, business people and media. Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov, special guest to the event, cut the ribbon and received the gold key to the mall. US ambassador John Beyrle said this has been the third investment in Bulgaria with US participation since the beginning of 2006.
Two major US investments were launched in Bulgaria this month - the ground breaking of the one billion euro Maritsa Iztok 1 thermal power plant, which will provide clean, efficient power for Bulgaria's economic growth, and the new Hewlett Packard Customer Service Center in Sofia, which will employ a thousand Bulgarians in high-tech customer service jobs.
The third investment comes through Mall of Sofia, where one of the owners is GE Real Estate, the property division of the US giant General Electric.

Mall of Sofia executive director Eli Egosi said Sofia's citizens and guests were provided with a modern, new and different way of entertainment in a unique complex combining the latest in high-tech with aesthetics and entertainment.

Mall of Sofia was initiated by Cinema City International (CCI), the largest multiplex operator in Central Europe, five years ago. CCI was joined in the project by the Aviv-Osif group, which is one of the leading real estate developers in Israel. The two have invested 60 million euro in the mall.
In mid-2005, the consortium of GE Real Estate and Quinlan Private Equity acquired 50 per cent of the investment in the mall and just recently they acquired the other 50 per cent.

With a total floor space of over 70 000 sq. m., Mall of Sofia offers more than 135 shops, as well as restaurants, cafeterias and the first Cinema City in Bulgaria, which includes 12 screens and a giant theatre - the first IMAX Cinema in the country.
Banks, mobile operators' business outlets, dry cleaners, a travel agency, photo studio, video store and a children's corner are also part of the largest Bulgarian mall.
Top fashion brands Hugo, Lacoste, Sisley, Morgan, Adidas; lingerie brands La Perla, Etam, Palmers and Seven Seconds; Oxette and Altinbas jewelry; a Piccadilly supermarket; Bamboo health bar and Bulgarian and international cuisine are just a tiny bit of the shopping and leisure opportunities.

A number of the brands featured in the mall are making their first entry on the Bulgarian market, including Intersport, Coffee Heaven, Ecco, Fox, Calliope, Soho and Esprit.

Shortly after the launch of the Mall of Sofia and another establishment, City Center Sofia (which was opened in May), Bulgaria’s first Western-style shopping malls, foreign investors announced plans to develop more large-scale retail centres in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna.

The developers of the Mall of Sofia - Aviv-Osif Group and CCI - said their partnership will begin towards the end of the year with the construction of a new shopping mall in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city. The 30 000sq m mall should be ready in 18 months. The two partners will evenly split the undisclosed cost of the investment.
CCI said it was ready to invest in other local projects for commercial outlets, shopping malls and cinema centres in cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants.

Work on a new 70 million euro shopping mall on Bulgaria Boulevard in Sofia will begin in 2007, said Egosi. The 40 000sq m retail centre, financed by Britain's Mercury Group, should be ready by 2009.
Orchid Developments, a hotel and commercial real-estate owner in Bulgaria, will kick off the construction next year of a 70 million euro mall in Varna, on the Black Sea, said Egosi. The 70 000sq m shopping centre should be operational by 2009.

GE Real Estate, now a co-owner of Mall of Sofia, said it was sounding out a number of investment opportunities both through acquisitions and new construction. The future projects of the company here could involve its current partner in the Mall of Sofia, Irish fund Quinlan Private. 

Source: Sofia Echo

(19.06.2006)