Angel Lingorski, CEO of Linexa Property: Balchik will be much talked about

Sweden, England, Italy, Spain - after nearly 20 years in construction, including projects in the Canary Worf and Broadgate areas in London, the airport in Pargue and buildings in other European capitals such as Copenhagen and Moscow, Angel Lingorski currently is focusing on his own projects. His company, Linexa Property, is one of the big developers in the region of Kavarna, where it already delivered the first phase and continues the construction of the Kaliakria vacation scheme. The company is also planning the development of a thousand holiday apartments and a five-star hotel with 160 rooms near Razlog. The total investments in the two projects will reach EUR 100m - some 38 million in the sea complex and another EUR 60 million in Razlog.
In 2007, 104 apartments with areas starting from 120 sq m in Kaliakria were put into operation and another 100 will be completed this spring. In the third phase, which is currently under construction, some 200 units will be added to the complex, as the whole project, which also includes a hotel with 60 apartments and 30 rooms, will open doors by 2010. Located above the beach and the Thracian Cliffs golf course, this complex is an area, which, Angel Lingorski believes, will become the most luxurious destination on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
Part of Linexa’s business operations is also company Home Care, specialized in property management and rental schemes.

Mr. Lingorski, how did you decide to develop large units in a market, in which, when you launched the project, the prevailing buyers were looking for studios and small apartments?
- The development of a market in a new region like the one between Balchik and Kavarna presumes a difference from the existing supply. It is a pure business decision to specialize in one niche - even if it is more risky for the moment - or to do what everyone does - it is a question of sensation and somewhat of foresight for the market.

Where is your niche - which markets and buyers are you targeting and to who do you sell most?
- The main markets are the Scandinavian countries. Britain and Ireland present perfectly the trend of demand for investment purchases - from studios to one-bedroom apartments (40-60 sq m), which is the typical product in Sunny Beach.

Do you think that the Northern Black Sea will become a luxurious destination?
- Definitelly. First, Balchik itself is an incredible place, which is underestimated, even by the Bulgarian market. It cannot be destroyed the way it is because of its topography. There is ust no possibility for overdevelopment. I am absolutely sure that in the next two or three years, even on the market in Bulgaria, it will be much taked about and Balchik will become one of the most luxurious destinations.

Such development would need the relevant level of services.
- They are already starting to appear. The marine in Balchik was equipped in the middle of the last summer, which attracted a number of large and expensive yachts, based there. The beach alley is now being extended to Albena to connect one of the best beaches in Bulgaria with a picturesque borough, piled together on the hill and from the sea looks exactly like Portovenere or Cinque Terre in Italy. With the restaurants and bars on the coast, which already operate since last summer, it trully becomes exactly this - one true small town, not a purpose-built resort like Albena or the one we are developing; one really vivid place, which people visit for dinner and then go home.

Did the withdrawal of the buyers from Bulgaria's holiday home market affect your sales?
- They became more difficult, but the market on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and in winter resorts produced a trend for diversification as early as last year. Every developer with a considerable quantity cannot afford to depend only on one market. Many of our colleagues, who depended 100 per cent on the English-Irish market, suffered.

Which are the most successful markets for you at the moment?
- The main buyers for us come from Nordic countries, Romania and Russia. We think that the second home for Bulgarians is also just beginning to develop.

You also have a project in Razlog. What is your opinion for that market, for mountain resorts?
- Currently, it has problems, but it has perspectives too. I do not agree with the panicky scepticism for Bansko. Most people, who say that they don’t like it, have never been to one of the cheaper resorts in the Alps. Bansko is just what it is and is not Courchevel 2000.

Yet, could the situation worsen and lead to an outflow of buyers for a longer period?
-Yes, it could. It depends on how long this period would be. But Bansko, with the completion of the current projects, which will happen, lets say, in two years, with the construction of the second gondola lift, which is officially announced by the concessionaire of the ski-zone - Ulen, and with the development of social infrastructure not only in the center of the town, is becoming one great place.
Yet, we are located 10-15 km from Bansko, furthermore in the Kulinoto area, which is closer to the Predela area. The valley of Razlog is cornered by three mountains. There isn’t one smoking chimney, one polluting industry in 100 km radius. After the completion of the Sofia-Thessaloniki highway we will be in the middle between two cities with three million population - two hours from the one, two hours from the other, two hours from a marine, may be just next to three lift systems and may be five or six golf courses.

It looks like pretty long-term perspective.
-Ten years. The preconditions for it exist. The mountains are there, the clean air is there, the two three-million cities won’t escape. The communication connection between them, however delayed it may it be for different reasons, will be completed.
After all, there are many cheap sea destinations, with which we can compete. Winter destinations at acceptable prices? Andora is EUR 2,500 per square meter. We pass to the other side, enter the Alps and we are at EUR 5,000 per sq m. And that’s all.
But this vision - to live in a valley, where one has 5-6 golf courses and could go skiing in the winter, and people can drive to Sofia or Thessaloniki, depending on where they are from, to work or to sail with a yacht, why can't this happen? May be not for this period, for which we expect. It won’t happen for five years. My perspective is ten. But it could also need more.

Still, property in Bulgaria is not as cheap as two or three years ago, and there are also competitive offers from Greece, Spain and other European locations at similar prices. Then, why do you think that prices remain low?
- As a whole this is true, but the fact that there is a village in Spain, in which a very low quality product is offered at similar levels does not mean that the prices in Spain and Bulgaria are equal. There are isolated products in Spain and Greece that are even cheaper. But as a whole in Bulgaria, both the property prices and cost of living are lower.

For how long could Bulgaria preserve these competitive prices?
- For how long Bulgaria needs to preserve, not for how long it could. Till it replaces the low prices with quality of services. The low prices are a sign that something is missing.