The Budapest commercial property market has seen a real turnaround over the past two years. Demand is evidently strong for quality office and logistic space in many parts of the Hungarian capital, including its airport. Budapest Airport has an area larger than London Heathrow and ambitious long-term plans that aim to attract a wide range of companies, including cargo and logistics operators. René Droese and Réka Sebestyén, responsible for the property business of BUD, talked to us about the airport’s development plans.  

V17, a new office building located at the beginning of the Váci corridor in Budapest has officially opened. The seven-storey sustainable building offers nearly 13,000 square meters Class A office space, most of which is let to E.ON Hungary Zrt. for long term. V17 is owned by Torony Ingatlan Befektetési Alap represented by Diófa Alapkezelő Zrt., and was developed by Hungarian commercial real estate developer WING Zrt. Building V17 required a HUF10 billion investment.

Prologis has started construction of a speculative facility totalling 9,200 square metres at Prologis Park Szczecin. The building is 60 percent pre-let to an international furniture company, which will occupy a total of 19,600 square metres in the park, including space in the new development. The building is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2017.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has acquired a 50 percent interest in a logistics portfolio comprising eight buildings and developable land in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, in a joint venture with Prologis. During the same period, three logistics properties in France have been sold.

Immofinanz will soon start construction on a further shopping centre under its VIVO! brand in the Polish city of Krosno. The new shopping centre will have approx. 21,000 sqm of rentable space for more than 60 shops. Pre-rentals are successfully underway, with the future tenants including H&M, Media Markt and Helios Cinema. The investment costs will total approx. €34 million, and the opening is planned for the fourth quarter of 2017. The VIVO! Krosno will be the third VIVO! shopping centre in Poland. 

Galeria Metropolia in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz was officially opened on 22 October 2016. Przedsiębiorstwo Budowlane Górski is the investor of the shoping centre, whilst Cushman & Wakefield is responsible for its commercialization.

The Polish unit of Swedish IT company Cybercom has leased over 2,500 sqm of space in the Nowa Fabryczna office building developed by Skanska in the city of Łódź. JLL advised Cybercom on the leasing process.

Today one quarter of modern office buildings in Budapest have a sustainability evaluation certification, and even among the older office buildings a growing number apply new technologies. Almost all new real estate entrants offer architectural and environmental management solutions to their future tenant, says a report by CBRE.

Horizon Development has laid the cornerstone for its new office project. Promenade Gardens, located on Budapest’s Váci Road, is expected to be completed in Q4 2017.

Only two shopping centres will be completed in 2016 in the Czech Republic due to the slow-down of construction activity in response to the perceived market saturation. Colliers International has released its Q3 retail market report for the Czech Republic, which also states that there are signs of new entrant demand which do not match suitable space availability.