International real estate developer HB Reavis has announced the acquisition of the BEM Palace in Budapest from Europa Property Fund. Located in the heart of Buda, BEM Palace is the company’s third development site purchased in the Hungarian market and their first redevelopment project across all markets. 

Horizon Development’s re-conceptualized historic building Váci 1 in Downtown Budapest has fully opened. The 13,750 sqm UNESCO World Heritage listed neo-classicist palace - constructed between 1911 and 1915 - is home to the newest flagship store of H&M.

The fact that Budapest is competing for the right to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics has now Been decided, as the capital submitted the initial application materials in the middle of February. The next big question is, will the choice of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) really fall on Budapest, and if so, will the city manage to prepare for the games in time and in a sustainable manner.

TriGranit has started its first year backed with a new owner, TPG Real Estate. In Q1 2016, new leases and renewal agreements reached 25,777 sqm GLA, the average occupancy rate is over 95% in TriGranit managed assets and the company has 20,000 sqm GLA office development in progress. Due to the strong performance of the BPO sector in the region, the company plans further office developments in the near future in each of its core countries: Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. 

Demand for industrial space lifted significantly in Q1 2016 in Budapest industrial markets and the hegemony of BTS projects has not broken yet. In the Budapest-South submarket vacancy rate dropped to 4.4% triggering two speculative projects, CBRE reports.

The vacancy rate on the Budapest industrial market declined 2 percentage points to a level below 10%. The Budapest Research Forum has published its Q1 2016 industrial market snapshot.

Vacancy rates have further declined on the Budapest office market as a result of modest development activity and strong demand from tenants. The Budapest Research Forum has published its quarterly office market analysis.

Wizz Air Hungary Kft., the largest low-cost airline in CEE moved its Budapest headquarters to Laurus Offices in mid-March 2016. Wizz Air is renting nearly 3,200 square meters of office space in building B of the complex, which was developed by Erste Group Immorent Kft., an affiliate of Austria-based Erste Group.

The Hungarian hotel market is characterised by optimism, which can be observed in both the development and investment markets. Investors in Budapest are planning to begin multiple projects, the capital will soon be see projects with some 600-800 five star and 1000-2000 four or fewer star rooms. Several projects are likely to manifest in the countryside too, where booking and income-profit indicators show a significant increase and provide developers with motivation.

Prologis announced that it has begun development of a 21,000 square metre speculative facility at Prologis Park Budapest-Sziget. This will be the first speculative logistics building in the Hungarian market since 2008. Completion is scheduled for the third quarter of 2016.