Office Building Classification

In the last few years the office market in Bulgaria underwent a rapid development especially in the four biggest cities in the country – Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas.

The development of this market segment (especially in the capital Sofia) continues and is expected to reach its final stage of development in the next few years. At present about 750,000 sq.m. of office space is being built and projects include additional 700,000 sq.m.

First-class office areas cover all international standards and are ready to meet even the highest expectations of their lessees. While looking to attract large lessees many agents define the office buildings they offer as class A buildings.

Depending on their location, the quality of construction and the materials used the office buildings in Bulgaria are ranked as follows: À+, À, Â+, Â and Ñ.

Class A Office Buildings

• Newly-constructed building with first-rate design
• Perfect location (in Bulgaria this means that the building is set in the central area of the city due to the lack of well differentiated business parks. In Sofia such areas are the center and the main boulevards like Tsarigradsko Shosse, Todor Alexandrov and Tsar Boris III)
• Easy access to the building
• Attractive for most lenders and large lessees on the market
• High rental rates
• Professional management
• Underground parking lot with enough parking spaces to accommodate all working in the building
• Use of high-quality materials during the construction
• Height of the premises (from the floor to the ceiling) not less than 2.70 m
• Efficient layout of the interior allowing maximum mobility of the working spaces
• Cables placed under the floors of the building and above suspended ceilings
• 24 hour security and access control
• High-quality speed elevators with good load capacity. In bigger office building there must be 2 elevators with capacity for 6 persons each
• Air-conditioning installations and systems for control of the micro climate in the building complying to European standards
• Two independent power supply sources with automatic change-over in case of emergency
• Depth of the room up to 18-20 m from the windows
• The common areas of the building should not exceed 12 percent of the total area of the building
• Luxury meeting and conference rooms and an impressive lobby
• Food areas (restaurants, coffee shops, gyms in buildings designed for over 250 persons)
• Modern windows and window joinery from high-quality materials
• Covering all energy efficiency standards

Class A+ Office Buildings

All the requirements for a class A building apply plus:
• Extraordinary quality and prestige
• Unique architecture
• Perfect location in the center of the city or modern business center
• Excellent maintenance

Although in the last few years in Bulgaria a lot of large investors entered the office market increasing the quality considerably there is still no class A+ office in the country.

Class B and B+ office buildings correspond to half of the requirements of class A buildings as the main difference is the location.

Class B Office Buildings

• High rental rates
• Professional management
• Use of high-quality materials
• Height of the premises (from the floor to the ceiling) not less than 2.70 m
• Efficient layout of the interior allowing maximum mobility of the working spaces
• 24 hour security and access control
• High-quality speed elevators with good load capacity. In bigger office building there must be 2 elevators with capacity for 6 persons each
• Two independent power supply sources with automatic change-over in case of emergency
• Depth of the room up to 18-20 m from the windows
• Luxury meeting and conference rooms and an impressive lobby
• Food areas (restaurants, coffee shops, gyms in buildings designed for over 250 persons)
• Modern windows and window joinery from high-quality materials

Class B+ Office Buildings

• New building with excellent design and technical specifications but not covering all the class A building requirements
• Very often class B+ buildings are not very different from class A buildings except for the location.

Class C Office Buildings

Generally speaking, these are buildings which have been used for administrative purposes in the last 20 years or so and they cover only part of the class B requirements.

They are not renovated or modernized and no eco materials were used during their construction. Very often such offices are part of trade centers or residential developments formed as part of the common areas.

This class of office buildings is unacceptable on many of the developed markets as it covers almost none of the standards.

What Class A Office Building Really Means

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