White Sails
New Boulevard, completion 2021, 20 floors
Batumi New Boulevard: beachfront, sea views, letting and renovation
The New Boulevard continues the Seaside Boulevard to the south: a wide promenade with cycle lanes, parks and beaches, and behind it high-rise complexes with sea views. People buy apartments here for short-term letting and holidays; in summer the area is full of tourists, in winter it empties noticeably. We find beachfront apartments, renovate them for rental and manage them all year round.
Housing
Along the New Boulevard stand residential complexes and aparthotels built mostly over the last fifteen years: twenty, thirty storeys and more, with pools, reception and underground parking. Apartments range from studios to large apartments with terraces, and the upper floors hold penthouses. Most are sold as a frame or with the developer's renovation.
There are almost no old houses or private plots here, and the ground floors of the complexes are taken by cafés, shops and rentals. They live by the season: open late in summer, many closed in winter.
Terrain, sea and soil
The shore here is flat and low, the beach is pebble, and between the buildings and the sea lie the promenade and a strip of parks. The beachfront is exposed to sea wind: in a storm the salt reaches the façades, and metal, outdoor air conditioning units, and window and balcony door seals age faster than deeper in the city.
Groundwater is close to the surface, so waterproofing and pumping matter in underground car parks, and in lower-floor apartments we check for damp. Humidity rarely drops below 70 %, and an apartment that stands empty in winter needs a dehumidifier.
Infrastructure
Along the sea runs a promenade with cycle lanes, playgrounds, beaches and cafés. Supermarkets, pharmacies, gyms and small shops operate on the ground floors of the complexes, and in summer seasonal restaurants and rentals open nearby.
There are fewer schools and kindergartens here than in the residential neighbourhoods inland. Buses and minibuses run along the neighbouring streets to the centre and the airport. In summer the streets are congested and parking is scarce, so a space in the complex's underground car park is valued here.
The New Boulevard is the part of Batumi you see on postcards: a wide promenade along the sea and a row of high-rises behind it. Apartments here are bought for the view and the beach, for short-term letting and for holidays. The neighbourhood has its own rules of the game: the season, competition from hundreds of similar apartments, salt and wind from the sea. Below is what to consider when buying, letting and renovating.
Batumi New Boulevard: what people buy here
Most often studios and 1+1 apartments for short-term letting: tourists look for a place by the beach, and in summer such apartments are booked almost without gaps. Larger apartments are bought for the owners' own holidays and for living part of the year, and the upper floors and penthouses for a view over the whole bay. How to choose an apartment right by the sea is explained on our page about beachfront apartments.
One block from the promenade runs Khimshiashvili Street with the same kind of high-rises. Apartments there are a couple of minutes further from the water, and the view is more often blocked by neighbouring buildings. How that neighbourhood differs is described on our page about the Khimshiashvili Street area.
Sea views and the beachfront
The sea view is the main thing people pay for here, and it has to be checked rather than taken on trust. We look at what stands or may stand between the building and the beach, from which floor the view clears the neighbouring towers, and which way the living room and bedroom windows face. An apartment with a sea view on one side and a neighbouring tower on the other is priced and let differently.
The second question is sun and wind. West-facing apartments heat up strongly by evening in summer, and without good air conditioning and curtains guests notice. High floors on the beachfront are exposed to sea wind: at handover we check balcony doors, seals and façade joints especially carefully.
Short-term letting: summer and winter
From July to September apartments by the sea are booked almost without gaps, while from November there are few guests, even though the complex service charge arrives every month. Many owners let the apartment by the night in summer and long-term or for 1–3 months from autumn to spring. In winter an apartment by the sea is often rented by people who work remotely and want to live by the water.
The main difficulty here is competition. One complex holds hundreds of similar apartments, and guests choose by photos, reviews and price. The winners are apartments with an honest description, good photos and a price adjusted through the season. How we run such letting is explained on our page about managed short-term rentals.
Renovating an apartment by the sea
By the sea a renovation has to withstand salt, humidity and a stream of guests. We choose outdoor air conditioning units with anti-corrosion protection, stainless or powder-coated balcony metalwork, and the bathroom must have extraction that works even when the apartment stands empty. We choose durable surfaces: sand and fine pebbles from the beach come into the apartment on shoes.
Apartments here are most often handed over as a frame or with the developer's renovation, and renovation follows the complex's rules. How a renovation for guests is organised is described on our page about renovating apartments for short-term rental.
Complex rules
Almost all buildings on the New Boulevard are large complexes with a management company, a reception desk and a pool. The management company may restrict short-term letting, require guest registration and set renovation hours. We read these rules before buying and before launching the letting; more on our page about apartment management in residential complexes.
Residential complexes on the New Boulevard
Questions and answers
How does the New Boulevard differ from the old Seaside Boulevard?
The old boulevard runs along the centre and the Old Town: old trees, parks, buildings from different eras and residents who live here all year. The New Boulevard is younger and wider, lined with recent high-rise complexes with pools and reception. In summer there are more tourists here, and in winter the area empties more than the centre.
Could the sea view on the New Boulevard be blocked?
On the very beachfront there is usually only the promenade and a park between the building and the beach, but even here it is worth checking neighbouring plots and what may be built on them. In the second line the view depends more on the floor and on where future towers will go. We look at the plots around the building and at information on nearby construction before the deposit.
Can you live on the New Boulevard all year round?
You can, but in winter the area is quiet: some cafés and shops close, and many apartments stand empty. Schools and kindergartens are further away than in residential neighbourhoods, and with children you usually need a car. Before buying to live, we check whether people live in the complex in winter, whether the reception and pool work, and what is nearby in the cold months.
How does the sea affect a beachfront apartment?
Salt and wind age metal, outdoor air conditioning units, and window and balcony door seals faster than deeper in the city. Humidity is high all year, and an apartment left empty in winter without airing and a dehumidifier quickly gets mould on the reveals and in corners. So in renovation we plan materials for the sea climate and ventilation, and when letting we check the apartment regularly.
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