Press
The Top Real Estate Executives magazine is a special annual publication of the Budapest Business Journal.
The magazine presents the profiles of the most influential real estate executives working in the Hungarian economy. It puts a human face on the local development market, focusing on leading personalities’ profiles and outstanding achievements. We also look at incentives and tax breaks for construction, and examine how the Hungarian market is developing, among other things. The selection is unashamedly subjective, having been made by the editorial team of the Book of Lists and the BBJ, and draws on our 30-year-history of providing unparalleled business news and analysis. The readership of Top Real Estate Executives mirrors much of that of the BBJ, including many of the country’s leading business executives, diplomats and decision makers.
Robin Marshall MBE, Editor-in-chief
Budapest Business Journal
VALTER KALAUS (5th time on the list)
Newmark VLK Hungary
BACKGROUND INFO
Valter Kalaus is a prominent figure in the Hungarian commercial real estate market. By day, he serves as managing partner of Newmark VLK Hungary, a leading advisory firm in the sector; by dawn, he’s in the water training for his next international swimming competition.
Sport has been a defining force in his life, shaping the discipline and determination that underpin Newmark VLK Hungary’s winning business mindset. Kalaus began swimming at the age of five and was a member of Hungary’s national team at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. He continues to compete at a high level in the Masters category, holding numerous World and European Championship titles.
Most recently, he represented the Honvéd Masters Swim Team at the 2024 World Aquatics Masters Championships in Doha, where he won two gold, two silver, and two bronze medals, also setting a new World Championship record. Kalaus currently serves on the board of the Hungarian Swimming Federation, bringing both his athletic and international business acumen to Hungary’s most successful sport.
He holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in the United States and began his career in America as a commercial real estate advisor, primarily working with Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies. After returning to Budapest in 2001, he focused on advising corporate real estate occupiers across Central Europe.
In 2008, he founded VLK Real Estate Consulting, which later became Newmark VLK Hungary through a strategic partnership with Newmark. With 29 years of global experience in corporate real estate and tenant representation, Kalaus offers an unmatched combination of local expertise and international perspective. Earlier in his career, he was a vice president at Equis Corporation, where he launched and managed the company’s Central and Eastern European operations. He also served as director of real estate at KPMG Hungary, where he established a new service line and unified the firm’s real estate advisory services.
Kalaus is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Outside of work and swimming, he’s a dedicated father to his nine-and-a-half-year-old son, Vilmos. He is also a certified master scuba diver and enjoys riding motorcycles and playing golf in his spare time.
To read more click on the following link: https://bbj.hu/shop/top-real-estate-businesses-executives/