[size=85:d7m1zv01]Dnevnik 22 June 2010

BenchMark Fund Estates ices Borovets ski and spa project

Bulgarian real estate investment trust (REIT) has put on hold a project to develop a ski and spa complex in the upscale mountain resort of Borovets, reported Eurobuild CEE magazine, a monthly publication covering the CEE region's real estate and construction industry.

The news was confirmed for Dnevnik by the REIT’s executive director Vesselin Genchev.

“We suspended the project before the New Year. We have secured financing for this project but apartment sales have been slack and there was no point moving forward,” Genchev said. He added that this was a temporary decision and the company might get back to the project once it has completed its two ongoing projects in the capital city of Sofia. The other option is selling it out, Genchev explained, adding that the project has already been put up for sale at a price “close to its prime cost.”

This is the second out of four projects that BenchMark puts on ice. Two months ago the company sold back to Kyustendil municipality at an over BGN 100,000 direct loss a building right for a 38-decare land plot that was planned to accommodate hotels as well as an amusement and spa centre.

BenchMark has two office buildings on Sofia’s Tsarigradsko Shausse and Rakovski boulevards. The first has already been completed and rough construction works have been completed on the second project.

The three projects are worth over EUR 35 million. A portion of the investment comes from a EUR 25 million credit line the REIT secured last summer from the National Bank of Greece, the owner of United Bulgarian Bank (UBB).