site.btaSofia Neighbourhood Says "No" to New 16-Storey Giant

A protest lasting about an hour took place on Friday evening against plans to build a 16-storey building on the site of the former Sitnyakovo Bath in Sofia.

Milena Aleksieva, Deputy Mayor of Oborishte District, said the local authority had submitted a position paper to the investors and to the National Control Agency, arguing that a project of this height should first go through a public consultation. Any new building ought to be in keeping with the surrounding area, she said. Traffic is already strained and a tower of this scale would create a bottleneck, making it difficult for the developers to justify their transport plan, she added.

Aleksieva explained that demolition of the existing structure cannot be halted because it is not listed as a cultural or historical monument. She insisted that any new construction must remain within the district's height limit of 47 metres. A taller building, she warned, would lead to heavier congestion, increased air pollution and reduced daylight for neighbouring properties. The views of residents must be taken into account.

Those commuting along the boulevard each morning, as well as parents dropping off and picking up children from the school located directly opposite the site, would be among the worst affected, the deputy mayor said. "I expect the investor to reconsider this project. We are not against high-rise development as such, but it has to be in an appropriate location," Aleksieva said.

Maria Kavlakova, the protest organizer, called on the authorities to have the project halted or revised, potentially in favour of a lower building, and to ensure the process is opened to public consultation.

In July last year, residents from three districts held a similar protest over the same proposal. At the time, Aleksieva, then acting mayor of Oborishte, said the planned 16-storey tower was out of character for the neighbourhood, where buildings range from single-family houses to five-storey blocks. For that reason, the district routinely recommends that the chief architect require a public consultation whenever asked for an opinion on the project, she said.