From the very inception of the company, all the way to the creation of the Novaston platform with five companies, at Novaston Asset Management they have insisted on quality and expertise in the professional management and maintenance of business facilities. It was that way at the beginning and remains the case today, when Novaston is conquering new markets
As CEO Mia Zečević explains, in order to be competitive at all times and to provide a personalised approach, creativity and innovation to every client on each of the demanding markets in which the company operates, all Novaston employees constantly advance through professional courses and training.
Your company has grown into a platform with a team of 60 employees based in Serbia and Croatia. On what major projects are you currently engaged?
– We started with the Novaston Asset Management firm and five employees, while today our platform includes in its framework Novaston Project Management, Novaston Facility Management, Novaston Marketing Consultancy and Novaston Croatia.
Over the past two years, our company has been a significant part of the development of the retail segment. Our experts participated in the opening of large shopping centres – Promenada in Novi Sad and Ada Mall in Belgrade – and we’ve provided project management and publishing mediation services, as well as marketing.
We were also engaged in the opening of the STOP SHOP retail park in Sremska Mitrovica, while NMC and NPM participated in the rebranding of former Shoppy outlets in Subotica, Borča and Smederevo.
You have announced the coming expansion of your operations in the sectors of business premises and logistics. In this sense, when will Belgrade be able to approach regional capitals?
– Yes, viewed strategically, our goal in the period ahead is to focus our activities on the business premises and logistics sectors. Our team of experienced experts has already positioned itself with the offer of complete service in the field of real estate sales and management (with an emphasis on modern retail centres), ongoing and investment maintenance, projects for constructing and furnishing modern office space.
We are the exclusive partner of IKEA in the development of the Belgrade Retail Park project, covering an area of 36,000m2, the opening of which is planned for 2021
The development of the business premises sector in Serbia is progressing very dynamically, with leasing prices at a record level, although real estate sales are rarely realised. The offer of modern office space totals approximately 800,000m2 – Class A. The vacancy rate is below five per cent, while we expect that rate to be at the level of 6-9% in the coming period, due to the expansion of this type of real estate, as well as for leasing rates in first-class projects to be reduced. Otherwise, the business premises market in our country is still lagging slightly behind compared to the countries of the region.
When it comes to the logistics sector, around a million square metres of industrial and logistics facilities have been constructed in Serbia since 2000. Company CTP Invest is today building logistics and manufacturing facilities at several locations, while it is currently in the construction phase of the largest industrial park in Serbia – CTPark Belgrade North.
You have also positioned yourself firmly on the Croatian market. Do you have plans for Bosnia- Herzegovina, Montenegro and the territory of Kosovo?
– Last year was crucial for our positioning on the Croatian market. And there we are also a strategic partner in expanding the portfolio of the STOP SHOP retail park of Austrian company IMMOFINANZ, which is one of our most important clients. We also cooperate with NEPI Rockcastle, the investors who purchased the Arena Centre and Arena Park, then also the SES Group, with their King Cross Jankomir project, as well as other international and local partners in Croatia. Our plans also include further development through the implementation of several projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and on the territory of Kosovo, but it is still too early to talk about that.