Savills has extended its Central and Eastern European (CEE) network by forming an association with ESTON International, Hungary’s leading independent property advisor within the real estate industry. The announcement follows Savills opening of an office in Prague in January 2017 and the mutual co-operation agreed with Crosspoint in Romania in July 2017.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced plans for the Párisi Udvar Hotel in Budapest, joining Hôtel du Louvre in Paris as the second hotel in Europe for The Unbound Collection by Hyatt and third outside of the U.S. Hyatt has entered into a franchise agreement with Párizs Property Kft for the project, which will see Párisi Udvar in downtown Budapest converted into an upper-upscale 110-room hotel. The hotel will feature 18 suites, including 2 presidential suites. The Párisi Udvar Hotel is expected to open in 2018 and will be managed by Mellow Mood Hotels.

The recently appointed CEO of HB Reavis Hungary firmly believes that new office developments should focus on employee wellbeing and he thinks that tenants will be ready to pay higher rental fees for extra services that will help decrease their turnover. Jan Hübner talked to Property Forum about his expectations for the future of the Hungarian market and about Agora Budapest, the company’s major new development in the capital.

Through its subsidiary NEPI Rockcastle has acquired the Arena Plaza shopping centre in Budapest from Symmetry Arena Ingatlankezelő Kft. The aggregate purchase price paid for the transaction was €275 million, resulting in an acquisition yield of approximately 6.2%.

The CEO of TriGranit is still optimistic for 2017 on the Budapest property market, but he expects some kind of correction in the coming years. The question is: will this correction take place in the form of a market stabilisation or will it bring on a significant downturn? Árpád Török talked to Property Forum about TriGranit’s plans for new developments and acquisitions.

The office markets of Central European capitals are growing dynamically: the number of new leases is on the rise, vacancy rates have hit record lows in several cities and demand for large office space is also growing. In light of all this it is no surprise that development activity is also heating up on the most popular markets of the region. We asked three major office developers to tell us which city in the region offers the most attractive development opportunities, how tenants’ requirements are changing and what makes Central European capitals different.

Atenor has acquired 19,000 sqm of land on Hungária körút, one of the main road corridors in Budapest. The site provides an opportunity to build a campus of 4 office buildings with commercial spaces covering approximately 85,500 sqm, which will be developed in different phases. Permit application for the first building is set to be submitted by the end of the year, allowing construction to begin in 2018.

Hungarian developer and investor Wing has purchased the Európa Center Business and Logistic Park, located in the northernmost part of Budapest, next to the M0 ring road. Wing plans to further develop the park which has been renamed Login Business Park.

The industrial real estate market in Hungary hit the vacancy rate of 5.5% in the first half of 2017, which is the lowest number on record since it has been measured by the Budapest Research Forum (BRF). In total, less than 73,000 sqm space is currently vacant in the Budapest metropolitan area of the 1.95 million sqm total modern logistics area, and only four Class A buildings can offer more than 5,000 sqm contiguous warehouse space. The lack of available space is due to the strong absorption of the last few years, and at the same time there are still limited number of speculative projects in progress or have building permits, says Tamás Beck, Director of Industrial Agency at Colliers International Hungary.

Europa Capital has concluded the sale of a portfolio comprising two city centre office buildings in Budapest with a total floor area of approximately 26,000 sqm. KGAL, a European asset and investment manager, acquired the Kálvin Square and CityZen assets on behalf of institutional investors. The combined price for the portfolio is approximately €60 million. The property management will be carried out by KGAL´s local partner ConvergenCE.