GTC Hungary has completed its latest office building in Budapest, GTC White House, which offers 21,500 sqm of Class A space. The developer also plans to launch two new projects in the city.

TriGranit launched the construction of its new Class A office development, Millennium Gardens, which is the final element of the Millennium City Center in Budapest. After its expected completion in 2020, the two-winged office complex, will provide approx. 37,000 sqm GLA and more than 600 parking spaces for tenants, greatly emphasizing today’s employee and tenant needs. In 2018-2019, the company is working on the launch of four office developments in Central Europe. As for its size, Millennium Gardens is one of the biggest office development project in Budapest to be handed over till 2020. Within the coming 12 months, TriGranit plans the start of the construction of 77,000 sqm GLA office space in Central Europe.

HubHub, the co-working concept from international real estate developer HB Reavis, has announced the opening its first space in Hungary by the end of this year. The debuting brand will occupy a total area of 2,400 sqm at the well-known downtown hub, Király street. The new office is not only about state-of-the-art space, but education, the pooling of talent and community building will also be strong pillars of its presence.

Political risk seems not to be affecting the performance of CEE markets. Members of the investment panel at the Portfolio-RICS Valuation & Investment 2018 conference in Budapest are confident about the future of the market and view industrial/logistics and retail as the most attractive asset classes.

JLL's industrial real estate portfolio has expanded with the warehouse development called DOCK, owned by Dock Ingatlan Kft., in the Csepel Free Port area of Budapest. Following the real estate development in the 3.5-hectare area, a total of 15,000 square meters will be available for rentable warehouse space. Additionally, as a further development potential, the owners also highlighted the area of 80,000 square meters located on the northern part of the Free Port.

On May 29th, 2018, Budapest’s Ericsson House was officially handed over. This new building, developed by Wing, features not only offices but also one of the Swedish company’s largest European Research & Development centres. The 24,000 sqm property, built in the first phase of the development project of the Hungarian Nobel-Prize Winners’ R&D Park, satisfies both the needs of today and tomorrow due to its cutting-edge technology and execution. As shown by its LEED Gold certification it upholds the highest standards of environmental consciousness. The new HQ will house 1800 workers. Now, with the handover of the Ericsson House, the development of the adjacent site may commence as the second phase of the project.

The CEE hotel market experienced rapid growth in the last three years both in terms of hotel performance and transaction volume due to the dynamically expanding tourism industry. Within the region, the Budapest hotel market has seen exceptional growth, as its RevPAR (revenue per available room) growth outpaced the key regional capital cities, according to Colliers International's latest hotel market study.

The construction works of Etele Plaza has begun next to the Kelenföld railway station at the western gate of Budapest. As Futureal Group’s latest commercial development, the shopping and entertainment centre with a gross building area of 155,000 square meters will be the biggest of its kind on the Buda side of the city. The mall, combining unique architectural solutions and digital services will feature more fashion brands in one place than any other shopping centre in Hungary.

JLL has secured €11 million to refinance the Lascar 31 Business Center Bucharest on behalf of the manager of the project, ForeVest Capital Partners. Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Romania provided the loan for the property, which comprises 9,250 square meters rentable area.

ECE plans to develop a new shopping centre in Budapest. The project area is located in the North-western part of the Hungarian capital, close to the Danube River, on the site of a former textile factory in the Óbuda district. It is planned to have over 170 shops on three levels and a leasable area of more than 50,000 sqm. Construction start for the project is scheduled for 2019, and the opening is planned for 2021.