Construction commenced on GTC Hungary’s latest office development project. GTC White House is going to have a GLA of 21,500 sqm and is expected to be completed by end-2017. Concurrently, GTC Hungary will carry out a full interior refurbishment and technical reconstruction at Duna Tower Office.
GTC White House’s building permit came into effect on July 15, 2016. Swietelsky Hungary was named as the contractor for the deep foundation and basement works for the project, and GTC appointed international real estate agencies Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) and CBRE to serve as joint exclusive letting agents for the building.
GTC White House’s design incorporates and renovates the 100-year-old building of a former elevator factory (Schlick Felvonógyár) to create a modern office space of approximately 2,000 sqm in a unique working environment. The preserved historic building will be integrated into the whole of the new 21,500 sqm Class A office complex, which will be built to a LEED Gold environmental standard. Each floor will offer 2880 sqm of office space. A few minutes from two metro stations and tram line No. 1, GTC White House will have underground parking for 299 vehicles, over 150 bicycle stands, and shower suites.
GTC White House enters a reviving Budapest office market. Overall market vacancy rate currently stands at 10.3% from the low point of 22% in 2012. Following the 2008 downturn, construction of new office buildings in Budapest came to a halt (in 2009, 300,000 sqm was inaugurated, but dropped to practically zero in 2012-2013). Evidence of the new, positive trend is the approximately 80,000 sqm that will be made available in the capital this year, representing a growth of 42% over Q1 of last year.
GTC White House
Duna Tower Office, which was purchased by GTC in one of the biggest single asset office building acquisitions of 2015, will also be renewed. The interior refurbishing of 3,000 sqm of community areas and the full technical reconstruction of Budapest’s highest office building started in July. The remodeling of the 16-storey tall building, which offers a total of 31,500 sqm gross leasable area, is scheduled to finish in mid-October.
KÖZTI Architects & Engineers won the tender to recreate the lobby and to refurbish the cafe, the cafeteria, the terrace and the garden. The building’s air-conditioning system will be renewed, as will other technical installations, at a total cost of 2 million euros. To make the project as short as possible and to cause the least disturbance to tenants, work is being carried out over the summer. GTC Hungary has also launched a street food court next to the building.
Duna Tower Office (Photo: MTI / József Balaton)
With GTC White House the Hungarian subsidiary of Warsaw's Globe Trade Centre S.A. extends its entire domestic office portfolio to 140,000 sqm. GTC Hungary also owns Budapest’s tallest commercial office building - Duna Tower, Center Point - the capital’s largest office complex, GTC Metro and the Spirál Office Building.
Golden Star Estate has secured lease agreements totalling around 2,400 sqm at Warsaw-based Oxygen Park. Puerta has joined as the operator of the SZAWA conference centre, occupying over 650 sqm of training and event space. Additionally, fish product manufacturer Vicziunai-Pol Spółka leased nearly 140 sqm. Existing tenants Parker Hannifin, Diasorin Poland, and Nieruchomości Plus all extended their stays, maintaining a combined footprint of over 1,550 sqm.
BearingPoint has relocated its Bucharest office to Vastint’s Timpuri Noi Square, in a deal brokered by Griffes.
Lagardère Travel Retail has renewed its 2,300 sqm office lease for its HQ at the Bucharest-based Globalworth Campus, in a deal brokered by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
New appointments
Czech investment group SCF has expanded its team by appointing Jan Simandl as Senior Leasing Team Leader. In this role, Simandl will oversee leasing activities across the company’s commercial property portfolio. He previously worked for CPI Property Group and CBRE.
Michał Kochanowski-Laren has joined Avison Young Poland’s Technical Advisory and Project Management team as Project Manager. In his new role, he is responsible for delivering a variety of consultancy projects across all segments of the commercial real estate market in Poland. Kochanowski-Laren is an electrical engineer and a graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology.
Colliers Hungary has appointed Balint Laszlo as Director and Head of Design & Build. Laszlo brings over a decade of expertise in technical project management and fit-out execution, with a specific focus on the office and industrial sectors. He previously served as Head of Fit Out at Futureal Group, where he managed project execution, technical delivery, and cross-functional collaboration. His professional background also includes site management and commercial leadership roles.
Developer PSN will begin renovating the former intercity telephone exchange on Fibichova street in Prague 3 this summer. The monumental 1926 building will undergo conversion into premium rental housing, with completion planned for autumn 2028.
Poland's commercial real estate investment market exceeded €1 billion in Q1 2026, marking the best year opening in four years, according to a JLL report.
Open-ended fund Reico Long Lease has purchased The Mill office building in Bratislava from developer Immocap, in one of the biggest property deals closed on the Slovak market in the year to date.
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