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.
M1 Poznań, managed by EPP, one of the largest family shopping centres in Wielkopolska, has just gained a new, unique tenant, CentrumRowerowe.pl, which is making its debut in Wielkopolska. In the summer, HalfPrice will also join the list of tenants of the centre, offering global brands, including fashion, home furnishings and sports goods at attractive prices. Customers can also already use the assortment of the recently opened Reporter clothing store and the Rainbow travel agency. All new contracts cover over 5,000 sqm of retail space.
Three companies from the PZU Group, one of the largest financial institutions in Poland and Central & Eastern Europe, have decided to lease space at Konstruktorska Business Center in Warsaw for another 10 years. The companies have renewed their lease for a total of over 6,500 sqm of modern office space in the building owned by Golden Star Group.
SNF, a company operating in the beauty sector, has renewed its lease for approximately 2,300 sqm of warehouse and office space at Prologis Park Poznań I. Axi Immo represented the tenant in the transaction.
New appointments
Savills Czech Republic announces new hires and promotions within its valuation team. Daniel Duchek has joined as a Senior Valuer, Alena Arnoldová has strengthened the team as a Junior Valuer, and Ivana Horáková has been promoted Valuer. Under the leadership of Marek Pohl, the team now consists of seven consultants specialising in the valuation of a wide range of assets – from commercial, residential, and hospitality properties to leisure, healthcare facilities, and land.
Ewa Nowak, a commercial property valuer, has joined the Valuation Department of international real estate advisory firm Newmark Polska as Senior Associate.
Maciej Wieczorkiewicz is joining the Avison Young Technical Advisory team in Poland. Maciej is an experienced engineer with many years of experience in managing fit-out projects and investments in the commercial property sector. During his career development, he has worked for companies such as Made In Terior, TECAS Fitout and Colliers Define.
Vilharia, the office building in Ljubljana, developed by the Slovak development company Corwin, has announced two new key tenants. The building has reached 75% occupancy.
Sixteen brands entered the Czech retail market in the first six months of this year, fashion and gastronomy being the most common segments, according to the report by Cushman & Wakefield.
Zeitgeist Asset Management is deepening its cooperation with the Reico Nemovitostní investment fund, managed by the Reico Erste Asset Management investment company. Zeitgeist is taking over the complete management of another rental housing project.
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