Colliers International Hungary announced that Michael Smithing has returned to the Office Agency Team as Director of Landlord Representation, effective immediately.

TriGranit announced organisational changes in several fields of its operation. It has among other a new Chief Construction & Development Officer, a new Chief Financial Officer, a new Development Director and a new Head of Acquisitions. 

Redwood Real Estate Holding (formerly known as B&L Estates), a Hungarian real estate developer has recently started the construction of the 5,000 sqm, Class A+, LEED Platinum pre-certified Ecodome office building on a speculative basis

After entering the Hungarian market in 2016, M7 Real Estate has chosen the Budapest office of CBRE to manage the entire Hungarian real estate portfolio within the M7 CEREF I Fund. 

The recession and the years following it have brought about significant changes in facility management. The market players are challenged by developers not always thinking ahead and by a seriously lacking workforce. László Vágó, CEO of Strabag Property and Facility Services Ltd. spoke to us about their current challenges.

The Industrial division of Colliers International Hungary sold the Scanfil building in Rozália Park to Reál food store chain. The building totalling 14 500 sqm was used by Scanfil for the production of mechanics and integrated products and will be now used by Reál as distribution centre for the greater Budapest area.

Bank cards play an increasingly bigger role in every aspect of our lives and passengers in CEE countries are becoming increasingly open towards using electronic payment solutions to pay for public transport services. Frantisek Jungr, Senior Business Development Manager for the CEE Region at Visa Europe talks to Property Forum about the experiences he gained during the implementation of electronic ticket systems in the Czech Republic, and while learning about the Czech examples, we also examine the shortcomings of Budapest’s current and future ticket system.

Occupier and investment sentiment continues to be positive across Central and Eastern Europe according to the RICS Commercial Property Monitor for Q1 2017. Similarly to last quarter, Hungary remains the most upbeat market globally with the Czech Republic also performing remarkably well. The picture is slightly more mixed in Croatia and Romania, still, near term momentum remains positive in the two markets.

M7 Real Estate has acquired a portfolio of 11 light industrial assets in Hungary and the Czech Republic, on behalf of M7 CEREF I, from a joint venture between Partners Group and Cromwell Property Group. The portfolio comprises 209,832 sqm, with seven of the assets located in Hungary and the remaining four in the Czech Republic.

Investment flows into the CEE region rose 70% year-on-year in Q1 2017. The level of €2.8 billion is some €0.5 billion higher than the preliminary estimate of €2.3 billion Colliers International published at the beginning of April. Money invested into the Czech Republic  (56% share) and Hungary (19% share) contributed particularly to the significant jump. Looking within the numbers, the retail sector accounted for nearly half (47%) of the flows, leaving the office sector trailing with a 21% share. Of interest and also a sign of buoyant economic growth, the fastest growth was seen in the hotel sector with a portfolio transaction contributing to the €415mn total (a 15% share).