Office
The letting and investment deals concluded during 2021 reflect the positive positions of the office and industrial sectors and the favorable prospects for the hotel sector, despite a difficult period given the various lockdowns. Questions remain, however, over the medium- to longer-term position of retail. Sustainability accreditation and ESG matters are playing an increasingly prominent role in both the development and investment markets.
Office Overview
The office sector accounted for 80% of investment activity in the first half of the year, according to consultancy Avison Young Hungary. The CEE developer and investor GTC has invested EUR 160 million to acquire the LEED “Gold” accredited 20,000 sqm Ericsson headquarters and the 21,500 sqm Evosoft HQ in South Buda, both from Wing.
The transaction fits in with the aim of Wing to become a regional player as it focuses its activity on development and investment in CEE, partly through its Polish subsidiary, Echo lnvestment. GTC also acquired the 15,500 sqm Váci Greens Building D, developed by Atenor and sold to a Hungarian private investor. “GTC’s very strong ‘all-out attack’ is very interesting: Their purchase of the Infopark buildings from Wing, the purchase of two buildings in the Váci Corridor (Váci Greens D and Váci 188), and the only Class ‘A’ quality larger office building in Debrecen, Forum Offices, will make it an extremely strong player on the office market,” comments Valter Kalaus, managing director of Newmark VLK Hungary.
The largest single asset transaction of the year was the purchase of Váci Greens F by a domestic closed-end fund from Atenor, after a prolonged process that carried over from 2020. Another investment transaction of note was the acquisition of the earlier generation
BC 140 by the U.K. investor Resolution Property from German asset manager DWS. This is the third office purchase by Resolution Property after acquiring the Margit Palace and Buda Square buildings, totaling 37,000 sqm, from Adventum.
ln an unrelated transaction, CBRE represented Wing in the disposal of four office towers at Infopark, representing 49,000 sqm, to Sky Green Buildings.
ln a regional transaction of note, the Hungarian investor, Indotek Group, announced it is to purchase GTC’s Belgrade office portfolio for EU R 267.6 mln. The agreement covers 11 buildings within five business parks and a total of 122,000 sqm of space. Once completed, the deal will become one of the most significant real estate transactions in the last five years on the CEE market, according to analysts.
To read the full article visit BBJ page https://bbj.hu/ – for the Dec 17 Magazine edition