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SKOPJE (Macedonia), May 27 (SeeNews) – Belgian real estate consultancy Altitlan plans to soon expand its Business in Kosovo from Macedonia, where it already has an office, the company's manager Xavier Pinchart said.
The company, which implements projects in Kosovo, plans to open an office there in September, and if everything goes well, in Albania next year, Pinchart told seeNews in a recent interview.
Altitlan (www.altitlan.com) opened its Skopje office last summer. The company offers corporate real estate consultant services in Macedonia and Kosovo, the southern Serbian province that declared independence in 2008, and was the very first of its kind to enter the markets of the Western balkans.
“Altitlan is providing services only for Business projects in the real estate sector, and is not a classical [property] agency,” Pinchart explained. The range of services the company offers include market intelligence, funding and financial services, tenant representation, property and facility management.
Although Macedonia's real estate market is small and thus limited, it is still in a development phase and is open for specific investments, Pinchart said, adding that shopping malls and logistics infrastructure are the best investments options in the country of two million people.
He pointed out to lack of large shopping malls in Skopje able to attract more important brands, as well as Business leisure facilities that could meet the needs of the growing middle class.
"Shopping malls will make a big change in the market that will be positive for consumers" he said, adding that the existing Ramstore shopping mall currently faces no direct competition in Macedonia.
The Ramstore shopping mall was built in Skopje in 2005 by Turkey's Migros, part of the Koc Holding group, following investment of 20 million euro ($27.9 million).
Altitlan works with several foreign real estate developers, for example on shopping mall development in Skopje, he said, but disclosed no names.
"I think that Skopje and Pristina can accommodate new branded five-star Business hotels," Pinchart said, referring to the capitals of Macedonia and Kosovo. He also said that the Equest project could bring Radisson Blu hotel brand to Macedonia.
British Elan Properties, part of Equest Balkan Properties, started the construction of a 45 million euro shopping mall in Skopje’s central area last summer
According to Pinchart, developing specific leisure projects, like the Aquapura, a luxurious tourist settlement on the shores of the Prespa lake can make sense on Macedonia’s market.
Macedonian lakeside resort town of Ohrid is a very nice place, but is difficult to develop mass tourism there. "Real estate is really expensive here, but there is no real market reason for that," Pinchart noted.
Rents of prime-location retail property in Macedonia vary from 40 to 75 euro per square metre for small locations and 30-40 euro per sq m for large ones, according to an Altitlan’s study released last November.
Pinchart said that one positive aspect of the global financial crisis is the fall in property prices in Macedonia which would enable local businessmen to make investments. He added that the local office rental market was worst hit by the crisis.
“So, there is a shift from international to local or regional investors. If we were used to see Austrian, German, French businessmen, this time we will see Macedonian businessmen working well as the local market still goes well,” Pinchart said.
“I see six difficult months ahead in Macedonia and a slow recovery,” he added.
For him, the biggest problems for Macedonia investorwise are the small size of the country's market and the lack of specialized workforce in some sectors, like IT experts or Business managers.
Investment failures like Swedmilk and EVN also create a negative image of the country abroad, he said.
Swedmilk Macedonija d.o.o. dairy, a 25 million euro Swedish investment, is awaiting a court ruling on its bankruptcy one year after being set up, due over 20 million euro of bad debt. The Macedonian unit of Austrian power utility EVN is involved in a legal dispute with the government in Skopje.
Yet, Macedonia offers investment opportunities, for example in its agriculture and textile industry, Pinchart said, noting that labour and construction costs in the country remain the lowest in the region.
($=0.7156 euro)
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