Serbian developers
Just when I was on the verge of returning to the US, I decided to make a last minute, 30-hour trip to Belgrade, Serbia. The purpose of the adventure was to meet two aspiring real estate entrepreneurs who are building modern, for-sale condominium projects in coveted neighborhoods throughout the city such as Vračar. To my delight, I was able to meet both of them and a longtime friend of mine for dinner at Maison Boho, which served fantastic food in a cozy, darkly-lit room.
Over the course of the meal, I digested as much as possible about their numerous projects, target demographics, condo pricing, and deal economics. To cap off the evening, they took me to an incredibly tasty ice cream shop, Luff Gelato, that one of them owns…I can’t wait until the chain expands to other locations…maybe even in the US! Oh, and I indulged in a nightcap at the packed Temperament…again, a time warp to pre-COVID times when mask wearing wasn’t “a thing” (even for the servers). Yep, time for a COVID test!
Such incredible ice cream at Luff 
Nightcap at Temperament
I was shocked at the scale and modern design of the Waterfront urban revitalization
Property tour
Before my flight back to Paris the following day, my friend was nice enough to take me on a real estate tour of various projects within Belgrade, including other sites in Vračar, the US$ 3 billion Belgrade Waterfront development, and his own residential community west of the Sava River in New Belgrade. In these latter two areas, I really like the mixed-use component of modern apartments with an array of ground-floor retail and abundant outdoor green space. Further, I was shocked at the scale and modern design of the Waterfront urban revitalization, which is projected to encompass 6,000 apartments, 2,000 offices, two luxury hotels, and the largest shopping mall in southeast Europe. I’m definitely eager to see whether the ultimate completion of this development creates a new epicenter of the city.
Newly built condo development in Vračar 
Residential development project from Brixwell 
Kula Belgrade – largest tower in the Belgrade Waterfront project
Heading home
Fortunately, the return trip to Charles de Gaulle Airport was relatively pain-free aside from the mandatory (and much needed) COVID testing prior to clearing immigration. I was surprised that the French authorities required this testing, but then allowed passengers to proceed into Paris without much guidance in terms of proper self-quarantine procedures. (Perhaps this is why the country has since had to reimpose restrictions, including a curfew in certain areas such as Paris between 9pm to 6am.)
Oh, and while the Air Serbia flight attendants were cordial and professional, they could have done a much better job at enforcement of mask wearing. While walking back to the rear lavatory halfway through the flight, I counted no fewer than 12 people within their masks on or wearing them below their nose.
Mixed-use project in New Belgrade 
Galerija Mall in Belgrade Waterfront
After one final night in Paris that was more of a pit stop than anything, I again set foot on the Friendly Skies of United for a flight to EWR. Based on the dynamic schedule of the preceding 10 days, it was no wonder that I slept for much of the flight and arrived back in NYC much more rested than expected. Fortunately, I had a COVID test five days later and proved to myself that it was possible to escape Europe COVID-free!
