Central and Eastern European cities have further increased their presence at the largest property event in Europe. Investment markets are booming and this is clearly visible when looking around the stands of Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Romanian cities. Our takeaway from CEE themed panel discussions at Expo Real.

MOL Group announced its plans to relocate its corporate headquarters by 2021 to MOL Campus, the company’s new 83,000 sqm office, which will be designed by UK-based Foster + Partners. The 120 meter high building, which will be the future workspace for up to 2500 employees, will be located within the new BudaPart quarter, on the banks of the Danube in the southern part of Budapest. MOL Campus is set to become the tallest commercial building in Hungary.

Savills has extended its Central and Eastern European (CEE) network by forming an association with ESTON International, Hungary’s leading independent property advisor within the real estate industry. The announcement follows Savills opening of an office in Prague in January 2017 and the mutual co-operation agreed with Crosspoint in Romania in July 2017.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced plans for the Párisi Udvar Hotel in Budapest, joining Hôtel du Louvre in Paris as the second hotel in Europe for The Unbound Collection by Hyatt and third outside of the U.S. Hyatt has entered into a franchise agreement with Párizs Property Kft for the project, which will see Párisi Udvar in downtown Budapest converted into an upper-upscale 110-room hotel. The hotel will feature 18 suites, including 2 presidential suites. The Párisi Udvar Hotel is expected to open in 2018 and will be managed by Mellow Mood Hotels.

The recently appointed CEO of HB Reavis Hungary firmly believes that new office developments should focus on employee wellbeing and he thinks that tenants will be ready to pay higher rental fees for extra services that will help decrease their turnover. Jan Hübner talked to Property Forum about his expectations for the future of the Hungarian market and about Agora Budapest, the company’s major new development in the capital.

Through its subsidiary NEPI Rockcastle has acquired the Arena Plaza shopping centre in Budapest from Symmetry Arena Ingatlankezelő Kft. The aggregate purchase price paid for the transaction was €275 million, resulting in an acquisition yield of approximately 6.2%.

The CEO of TriGranit is still optimistic for 2017 on the Budapest property market, but he expects some kind of correction in the coming years. The question is: will this correction take place in the form of a market stabilisation or will it bring on a significant downturn? Árpád Török talked to Property Forum about TriGranit’s plans for new developments and acquisitions.

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.

Occupier and investment sentiment remains positive across all Central and Eastern European countries tracked by the RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Results for Q2 2017 show that Hungary and the Czech Republic continue to post the strongest overall results. The vast majority of respondents expect new investors to enter the market with the presence of local and CEE investors predicted to increase across the region in the year ahead.