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.
Froo Romania, a subsidiary of the Żabka Group, has relocated its HQ to the Bucharest-based Hermes Business Campus. The retailer secured around 2,900 sqm of office space in a transaction facilitated by Colliers.
Court One has signed a lease for approximately 6,300 sqm of space at MLP Business Park Vienna. The tenant, a subsidiary of the Padeldome group, is currently Austria’s largest operator in the sector, managing 42 courts across four locations in the capital.
Polish fashion and lifestyle brand Medicine has accelerated its domestic expansion, headlined by the opening of its largest store to date, a 985 sqm flagship at the Silesia City Center in Katowice. This strategic scale-up is mirrored by simultaneous growth in several regional markets, including a new 740 sqm unit at Magnolia Park in Wroclaw and a 600 sqm extension at Galeria Warmińska in Olsztyn. The retailer further bolstered its Silesian presence with a 500 sqm location at Pogoria Shopping Centre and a new opening at CH Platan, significantly increasing its total floor space across Poland.
New appointments
Avison Young has promoted Bartłomiej Krzyżak and Marcin Purgal to the roles of Co-Heads of the Investment Department in Poland. Krzyżak, previously Senior Director, brings 18 years of commercial real estate experience, having joined Avison Young in 2017. Purgal, also a former Senior Director and a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), transitions into the co-head role with 23 years of experience in the CEE commercial markets.
Avison Young has strengthened its Polish leadership with three senior promotions. Patryk Błach ascends to Associate Director within the Investment Advisory Department. Kamil Głowienka has been named Senior Project Manager. Furthermore, Katarzyna Uzar becomes a Valuation and Innovation Specialist, tasked with integrating technological solutions and coordinating global departmental projects.
Katarzyna Myjak has joined Axi Immo as Senior Business Advisory Manager, tasked with strengthening the company’s Industrial & Logistics business line.
Skanska has announced that the second phase of the H2Offices complex in Budapest has reached structural completion. With more than 22,000 sqm of office space, the development is moving into the next stage of construction and remains on track for completion in Q1 2027.
Hubix, a Romanian real estate management and investment company, has entered into partnership with Alber Holding to develop the first phase of City of Mara Forum, a mixed-use project in Timișoara.
Retail parks in the Czech Republic are expanding at their fastest pace in 15 years, with 82,400 sqm of new and expanded space delivered in 2025. The segment now accounts for nearly one-third of all modern retail space in the country, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report.
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