A whole new district with a residential complex and a business project will be erected in the capital, next to the future Sofia Ring Mall near Bulgaria's sole IKEA store.

Greek investors Fourlis and Danaos plan to invest EUR 70 M in a residential complex and a further EUR 50 M in a business project, both part of the EUR 300 M Sofia Ring Development.

Sofia Ring Development is scheduled to be fully completed in 2019.

Sofia Ring Mall, which is to become Bulgaria's largest retail and entertainment destination together with the closely located store of IKEA Bulgaria, will be the first building to be unveiled in the mega complex in about a year.

The shopping center will provide to its customers views towards the city and Vitosha Mountain and a lot of green areas.

It will feature a tenant mix of over 200 stores, including fashion and sport stores, entertainment facilities, a 10-screen cinema multiplex. More than 25 000 sq meters of gross leasable area are slated to anchor tenants and more than 20 000 sq meters to fashion brands. In total Sofia Ring Mall will have 69 000 square meters of gross leasable area, and 172 000 square meters of gross building area on 3 retail floors.

One of the biggest advantages of Sofia Ring Mall is that it's a unique cluster of "big box" operators working in synergy with a classical "shopping mall" mix, making it and all-in-one offer catering all needs of visitors, the investors say.