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.

Market players still look positively toward the future of Central and Eastern European property markets but they are visibly less buoyant than they were during most of 2017. Results for Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary are the most positive, while in Romania the picture is rather mixed. All data points to the Czech investment market being in a state close to peaking.

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.

Futureal Group is developing its biggest office project in Budapest, next to Hungary’s largest multimodal transportation hub. Budapest ONE Business Park will expand the capital’s office market with more than 65,000 square meters of GLA. The first phase of the WELL Building Platinum pre-certified complex designed as a ribbon building will be handed over in H2 2019.

IAD Investments, the oldest independent Slovak asset management company, has acquired the Dunaharaszti industrial park next to Budapest. The acquisition of the logistics complex was made on behalf of its Prvý realitný fond, a mutual fund investing throughout Central Europe. This is the first fund acquisition made in Hungary and it means the successful entrance to the Hungarian real estate market.

So far in 2018 CBRE won the management of further 10 properties (industrial and shopping centres and an office building) in Budapest. The Budapest office now manages a 600,000 sqm portfolio in Hungary.

Wing Zrt. will develop an international flight training centre fully tailored to Wizz Air’s needs in the scope of a one-of-a-kind project in close proximity to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. The facility will be the largest flight training centre in Hungary, and one of the most modern in the Central and Eastern European region. The 3800 square metre building will accommodate three flight deck simulators (two of them full-motion simulators) and a complete aircraft fuselage with passenger compartment (allowing the budget airline’s crew to run cabin crew training). After signing a long-term lease agreement, construction began in February. The building’s structure has been built, and delivery is scheduled for the end of the year. This is the second significant development project that Wing has undertaken in the vicinity of the airport in just a short time. The ibis Styles Budapest Airport – also developed by Wing – was inaugurated in January.

Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG announced the purchase of the B52 Office building in Budapest for an undisclosed price. The transaction was signed on 20 April 2018 and will be closed before the end of the second quarter. The seller is CCE Investment Kft., the investment arm of the prominent real estate investor and development company ConvergenCE.

Tenant requirements have changed significantly which means that offices need to be maintained at the highest quality in order to retain the workforce. Panellists discussed the future of the office market at the Portfolio FM & Office 2018 conference that was held in Budapest last week.