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.
Panattoni has commenced construction on the latest phase of Panattoni Park Gorzów II, developing a bespoke BTS warehouse for DPD Polska. The facility will encompass 5,300 sqm tailored to the courier company’s operational requirements. DPD Polska is scheduled to begin operations at the new site in August 2026.
Romanian strategic advisory firm Infinexa Restructuring has relocated its HQ to GTC’s City Gate South Tower in Bucharest. The move supports their integrated approach to delivering complex debt restructuring, insolvency mandates, and preventive procedures for distressed companies.
Sports Direct has leased 1,700 sqm in XOPark Sofia for its first Bulgarian store, in a deal brokered by CBRE.
New appointments
Panattoni has promoted Nick Cripps to the position of Head of International Capital Markets for Europe, the UK, the Middle East, and India. Based in London, Cripps is tasked with leading the firm’s global capital markets strategy across 18 diverse markets. He joined Panattoni five years ago as Head of UK Capital Markets.
PSN has expanded its acquisitions team with the arrival of Martin Šrytr as Business Development Manager. Most recently, he served as Real Estate Expansion Manager at Twistcafe Group, supporting the company’s EMEA growth. His previous experience includes consulting at Cushman & Wakefield, advisory roles at Prochazka & Partners, and management positions within IWG.
iO Partners has announced key leadership changes within its Czech Republic operations as part of its ongoing business evolution. Milan Kilik has been appointed as the new Head of Office Leasing, with a particular focus on client advisory and team collaboration. Concurrently, Petr Kareš has transitioned into the role of Occupier Business Development Director. In this new capacity, he will be responsible for identifying new market opportunities and integrating services across Tenant Representation, Project Management, and Industrial Leasing.
Around 96% of Central European companies operate in a hybrid model, and nearly 90% have redesigned or rethought their office layout, according to a report by ThinkCo and Skanska. The research shows that concentration-supporting environments, flexible space usage and sustainability considerations increasingly influence employee decisions.
Development company Gridarch has completed Phase II of the Ostrava Airport Multimodal Park (OAMP). This phase includes Hall D, offering 11,300 sqm of industrial space including offices, which was handed over to international manufacturing company Brose.
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