[size=75:37ppbe4y]Sofia echo 22 March 2010

Warehouse rent prices in Bulgaria slid 20 per cent year-on-year in 2009

Warehousing rents in Bulgaria decreased by about 20 per cent on average in 2009, according to the latest market surveys by leading global consultants GVA Sollers Solutions and Cushman & Wakefield.

GVA Sollers Solutions estimated that prices decreased by 16.75 per cent, while Cushman & Wakefield's estimate was 23 per cent.

Both companies predicted that the downtrend would continue through 2010, with GVA Sollers Solutions anticipating a five to seven per cent decrease in some areas in the first six months of the year.

The sharp decrease has dragged Bulgaria down by 11 spots in Cushman & Wakefield’s global ranking of the costliest warehousing locations.

With an annual rent of 60 euro a sq m, Sofia ranked 31st for 2010, down from 20 for 2009.

GVA Sollers Solutions estimated that 360 000 state-of-the-art warehouses were completed in Bulgaria in 2009. A total of 47 per cent were around Sofia, near Sofia Airport, Kazichene, Krivina and Elin Pelin.

Plovdiv represents the country’s second-best industrial zone, with 105 000 sq m of logistics space, which accounts for 29 per cent of the total.

Retail chains account for the bulk of the tenants of warehouses, but many opted for building their own bases.

This step was taken in 2009 by German discounter Penny Market, which chose a site near Sofia, and Kaufland, which located its warehouse near Plovdiv.

Lidl and Billa have projects under construction outside Elin Pelin, and Piccadilly is building one near Sofia.