SKOPJE (Macedonia), June 22 (SeeNews) – Austrian real estate developer Soravia plans to complete the construction of a residential complex in Skopje by the middle of 2012 and considers other projects in Macedonia, the general manager of Soravia’s Macedonian unit said.
“Soravia Resort currently is planned to contain seven buildings for which the building permits and finances have been provided,” Peter Roth told SeeNews in an e-mailed interview.
However, the timeframes can change if the management of the company, which purchased the land for the complex, decides later to build more facilities on it, he said.
Work on the Soravia Resort residential complex (www.soraviaresort.com.mk), located on the slopes of Vodno mountain on the outskirts of Skopje, began at the end of 2009. The complex, covering an area of 20,000 square meters, is estimated to cost some 30 million euro ($37.2 million) when completed, Macedonian media reported earlier.
On June 16, the company launched the construction of the fourth building in the complex, the six-floor Villa Roma worth of 8.5 million euro. It will have 45 apartments for sale and nine luxury units for rent and will also feature shops, a swimming pool, a sauna, a gym and a spa center.
The construction of the other three apartment buildings - Venezzia, Milano and Napoli, is already in progress. They are smaller and will each offer four to eight apartments, Soravia's Macedonian unit said on its website.
Flats are selling well and only two apartments of the first three buildings are not sold yet, Roth said, adding that target clients are successful businessmen, people who can afford a quality life.
The company's Macedonian unit, Soravia Management, is currently focused on the Soravia Resort project but is always open to new challenges, Roth added.
“We are considering whether the next project will be a small business center in Skopje, or whether to start investment in the field of tourism, but both require time and scrutiny”.
Roth said the company is satisfied with its existing projects in Macedonia and is willing to continue investing in the Balkan country.
The capital of Skopje has a spirit, Roth said, but it needs good infrastructure, wider streets, more parking spaces as well as better public transport and public hygiene, as minimal standards to function properly.
Regarding the Macedonian real estate market, Roth said it is turbulent.
“When we started operations here, the market was generally more oriented in favour of the supply of business spaces as a result of lack of space or not a high quality one, but the situation has changed in a few years”.
Now, Roth said, a total of 35,000 square metres of new business space are finished or close to completion in Skopje, so customers have a bigger choice.
According to Roth, the residential segment in the Macedonian capital is going to move in the similar way - it has never been short of supply but quality of the projects was not always good.
The Macedonian real estate market will continue developing and stabilizing further, particularly following the incentives offered by the government: cadastre reforms, lowering of value added tax (VAT) on apartment sales allowing foreigners to buy real estate in Macedonia, as well as an expected rise in investments.
Soravia set foot in Macedonia in 2008 by opening a 29 million euro luxury retail and business centre in Skopje. The 14-floor building covers an area of 15,000 square meters, offers 4,000 square metres of retail space and has 100 underground parking lots.
Soravia’s strategy is to offer more in all its undertakings, which was the case with the company's initial project in Macedonia, the first modern business center in the capital, Roth said.
Soravia Group (www.soravia.at) is one of the leading real estate companies that operate in central and eastern Europe.
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