Yes, you read that correctly.
If it isn't a story about how expensive Dubrovnik is, it's a rather bizarre story about the extreme opposite, especially in this more than unusual case, as the price of a twenty-square-metre rented office space on Stradun, one of the most beautiful streets in the world, ranges from the cheapest 8,000 euro, to the most expensive 30,000 euro.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of April, 2018, within the mighty, medieval walls of Dubrovnik, there are only three grocery/general stores located close to the main street, Stradun. But all of them are quite distant from Dubrovnik's Holy Mary (Sveta Marija) area, a part of town where forty families live within the ancient walls, RTL writes.
The Dubrovnik Diocese decided to offer some of their space in this area for five years, with a symbolic, hardly believable monthly rent of a mere 100 kuna. Incredulously, at least for the time being, there has been no interest expressed in this dirt cheap offer. Although it sounds completely unbelievable, especially when one hundred kuna per month is compared to other, extortionate leases inside the walls, this offer has been on offer since just December last year.
"They're practically doing it for free, and in relation to other prices, where prices range from tens of thousands of euros on Stradun, and to the surrounding streets where they're worth a few thousand kuna, this is exceptional. Practically free,'' commented Davorin Krešić, a real estate agent.
Some of the reasons as to why there's no interest, at least in the collective opinion of the inhabitants of that particular Dubrovnik quarter, is the unfavourable distance from the very centre, the need for reconstruction of the space, and several other factors.
''The issue is transport. Who'd be delivering stuff there? That costs a lot. There aren't many buyers. Maybe in summer there'll be some foreigners, but the year is long, as is the winter,'' Božo from Dubrovnik noted when asked about the situation.
Despite the bizarre lack of interest, the Dubrovnik Diocese will not give up on their incredible offer. If at Stradun's monthly rent is tens of thousands of euros, they will come across, hopefully, someone who will accept their one hundred kuna per month offer. Otherwise, as previously mentioned, the price of a twenty-square-metre rented office space on Stradun ranges from the cheapest 8,000 euro, to the most expensive 30,000 euro.
