ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG Budapest

The office markets of Central European capitals are growing dynamically: the number of new leases is on the rise, vacancy rates have hit record lows in several cities and demand for large office space is also growing. In light of all this it is no surprise that development activity is also heating up on the most popular markets of the region. We asked three major office developers to tell us which city in the region offers the most attractive development opportunities, how tenants’ requirements are changing and what makes Central European capitals different.

Atenor has acquired 19,000 sqm of land on Hungária körút, one of the main road corridors in Budapest. The site provides an opportunity to build a campus of 4 office buildings with commercial spaces covering approximately 85,500 sqm, which will be developed in different phases. Permit application for the first building is set to be submitted by the end of the year, allowing construction to begin in 2018.

Hungarian developer and investor Wing has purchased the Európa Center Business and Logistic Park, located in the northernmost part of Budapest, next to the M0 ring road. Wing plans to further develop the park which has been renamed Login Business Park.

The industrial real estate market in Hungary hit the vacancy rate of 5.5% in the first half of 2017, which is the lowest number on record since it has been measured by the Budapest Research Forum (BRF). In total, less than 73,000 sqm space is currently vacant in the Budapest metropolitan area of the 1.95 million sqm total modern logistics area, and only four Class A buildings can offer more than 5,000 sqm contiguous warehouse space. The lack of available space is due to the strong absorption of the last few years, and at the same time there are still limited number of speculative projects in progress or have building permits, says Tamás Beck, Director of Industrial Agency at Colliers International Hungary.

Europa Capital has concluded the sale of a portfolio comprising two city centre office buildings in Budapest with a total floor area of approximately 26,000 sqm. KGAL, a European asset and investment manager, acquired the Kálvin Square and CityZen assets on behalf of institutional investors. The combined price for the portfolio is approximately €60 million. The property management will be carried out by KGAL´s local partner ConvergenCE. 

An international investment consortium comprising Wing, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing and CC Real has sold the West End Business Center office building in Budapest to OTP Property Investment Fund.

Union Investment has sold the 18,000 sqm office property Krisztina Palace in Budapest. The property was acquired in 2008 as a development project and has been part of the portfolio of the open-end real estate fund Unilmmo: Global ever since. The property has been purchased by the Erste Open-Ended Real Estate Investment Fund, managed by Erste Asset Management, the asset management arm of Erste Group. CBRE brokered the transaction and the legal firm CMS provided legal advice. 

Total real estate investment in Europe reached €74 billion in Q2 2017, representing a 25% increase on the same period last year, according to CBRE. Central Europe as a region proves to be more attractive to international investors than last year with Hungary accounting 15% of the overall investment volume.

Construction cranes are a common sight when walking around Budapest, marking the rapid property development taking place. Soon, scores of office buildings will appear out of nowhere. The changes are especially dramatic on Váci Road. Just a few minutes’ walk north of the metro station on Dózsa György Road there are three adjacent construction sites. But there are developments in progress all over the city, paving the way for new business centres.  

Total demand on the Budapest industrial property market amounted to 212,750 sqm in Q2 2017, which is the highest quarterly volume ever on record. The Budapest Research Forum published its quarterly industrial market analysis.