The capital is the best place for investments, and the quality lodgings are underestimated, says the manager of Winslow Developments, Ivan Mekushin. There are still a lot of property investors who believe that they will have a return value of 20-50% in a year or two. However, the really successful ones are those who bet their winnings on the future and know what their clients will need tomorrow. And their profit is certain, because the quality lodgings in Bulgaria are still underestimated and the prices have only one direction – up. The manager of the investment company Winslow Developments, Ivan Mekushin, is sure of this. And he adds: “The foreign investors regard Bulgaria as an emerging market, which deserves an accessible infrastructure, European standards and developed tourism. That is why they see the power of long-term investments. Lately, there are more and more investors who express detailed interest in Bulgaria, visit the old towns, submerge in their unique athmosphere". In the not so distant future, he sees how the big cities in Bulgaria change their appearance and become really good places to live. The entrepreneur is convinced that the change may seem hard and slow, but in a few years Sofia will reach the other European capitals. “I firmly believe that the most profitable investment is Sofia. For me, it is inexplicable how the lodging prices in the capital can be lower than 1000 euro per square meter. Now Sofia is an European capital, which is undergoing many changes – new metro line, public utilities, better communications".  All this could have sounded different, if Ivan Mekushin had not proved he could take the right business decisions. He is a medic by education, but, after a short specialization practice, he decides that he would be much more useful to his family and the society if he turns to the private sector.When he establishes his first company Limex Toys, he has already passed the different levels and spheres of sales and found successful partners. For a few years he manages to become the main supplier of children toys for the big commercial stores and starts searching for other challenges. In 2001, when he founds Winslow Developments, the real estate market is a golden opportunity for anyone, who has bought land and is ready to build on it. Mekushin, however, sees things differently. Which is why, at the time the investors were overbuilding Sofia, he decided to try with luxury projects in Bansko. So far, his company has built six apartment hotels popular under the brand name Mountain Residences. He has five more buildings in construction in this town located at Pirin mountain area. The total area of the company's projects so far is 40 000 square meters, and the invested funds - over 25 million euros.Five years later the company’s ambitions are once again to offer something new and qualitative on the market, as one of the big players in the real estate business. That leads to the partnership with RREEF, the investment company of Deutsche Bank. “So that our company could develop as fast as possible, we needed not only a financial support, but a new way of thinking, new corporate culture and organization of the activities. We were looking for a partner, with whom Winslow Developments could develop more dynamically, implement more and larger projects", explains Ivan Mekushin.  As an executive partner of the fund, the company is responsible for the management of the projects in Bulgaria. They start with two lodging projects in Sofia worth 100 million euros, but the two companies also planning to make a few investments in business projects. The start of a very wide scale living complex in the “Manastirski Livadi” district was announced recently.  4-6 buildings with 450 apartments will be raised only at the first stage of construction in Winslow Gardens. The whole project estimates the construction of four closed residential complexes, separated from the surrounding area, the way it is in the suburbs of the big cities in the countries of Central and Western Europe. The goal of the company is to offer high quality, new way of living and reasonable prices at the same time.The point of this type of complexes is to secure a peaceful way of living to their inhabitants. The company explains that this is achieved not only by controlled access, but by different facilities, obligatory for such type of complexes – enough space and green areas, children playgrounds, pharmacy, dry cleaning, sports and recreational center and other facilities for servicing and recreation, facilitating the daily life and creating a peaceful and safe environment. The complex will have further maintenance and services like security guards, maintenance and cleaning of the shared areas, where the choice of a servicing company will depend on the owners.“Bulgaria has a newly rising economy with fast developing middle class. A lot of people now can afford contemporary estates and want to move to higher quality lodgings. Having in mind that the lodgings with such quality are relatively few and the demand becomes higher and higher, especially in Sofia, it was reasonable to turn to this market”, says Mekushin.The company policy is to offer a full solution to its clients, and to improve constantly the quality of its offered services. This is the only way of successful business in the competitive environment of the current real estate market. “There is no doubt that the international and local influences are felt in many sectors in Bulgaria. The real estate will undergo many changes in the next years and we must not be impatient, if we do not see this change right away”, says Mekushin. That is why Winslow Developments pays serious attention to the development of the human capital, because “only using that we can improve the present and build a better future”. And the leading power of the company is the creative energy and enthusiasm of each person

.Source: Elitsa Dimitrova/”Politika” newspaper