9 minute read
Re-thought and Re-designed
RETURNED, RE-THOUGHT AND RE-DESIGNED
After a hiatus of several years, during which it pursued projects in Western Europe, the Belgium-based international developer Codic has returned to Budapest with three projects.
“Codic had been active in Hungary since 2007, and from 2008-2010 completed the Krisztina Palace in Buda, which we sold to German investors and is now owned by the Erste RE Fund,” Christophe Boving, the head of operations in Hungary recalls.
That year, 2010, is significant; Hungary was in the teeth of the financial crisis. Although Codic had a number of excellent development plots in Budapest, it was clear the market appetite, not to mention bank financing, was not there. So Codic’s group concentrated instead on projects in Belgium, France and Luxembourg, where Boving says it “delivered several projects in this period”. (For more information on this, see www.codic.eu.) in 2014-15 the company “started again to plan and, importantly, redesign projects” Boving explains.
“The users of buildings have different needs and expectations today, which is crucial to anticipate in our activity as a developer. We give much importance to what corporate tenants want, how they like to use and organize their work space. There is also a more urban and human aspect to it. Mixed-use has really become a trend that Codic has integrated in many projects since 2010; for example in downtown Luxembourg, we currently deliver the 60,000 sqm Royal-Hamilius project with retail, residential, office and public parking functions in one development, with one designer architect, Foster and Partners.”
Having kept a careful eye on the property market recovery in Budapest, Having completely re-thought what it wanted to do in its Budapest
plots, Codic’s work began with a fundamental revamping of its project on the one-hectare plot on Dózsa György út. This was the start of the Green Court project.
WELL-RESPECTED Together with partners Pesti Házak, a well-respected Hungarian residential developer, and Austria’s Venta Group, it has come up with a project involving two residential blocks and two contiguous office blocks, separated but sharing a common green courtyard. Green Court office is located on Dózsa György út 144-148, which runs perpendicular to the much coveted Váci Corridor.
“We think that within the Váci Corridor submarket, Dózsa György út will come to see a concentration of new developments, and we took the first initiative with Green Court. With two contingent offices facing Dózsa
György, and the residential blocks facing the park, laid around a common green courtyard, this multifunctional development will become alive 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Boving says.
“It will share synergies and answer the demands of, in particular, those who want to live close to a work space so they can limit travel time, and enjoy the quality of the environment where they work and where they live within easy reach of downtown Budapest.”
The residential blocks have already been topped out. Boving says apartment pre-sales have already hit the 90% ratio, with handover due at the end of this year. Ground works for Green Court Office will be completed “with days”, with those buildings currently slated for handover at the end of 2020.
One unique feature of the offices will be terraces overlooking the green, southern-oriented courtyard.
“Where most offices on Váci Corridor are fully enclosed, we wanted to open them up for the view and to allow the maximum amount of natural light into the buildings. We use continuous glazed façade with full height, openable windows and high selective glazing to reach the best performance in terms of energy savings and high light transmission.” The road facing side of the offices will have a double skin façade to offer enhanced solar protection and sound proofing.
DUTY TO DELIVER The next project in the timeline will be HomeWork, situated in Buda at the foot of Rózsadomb, on the intersection of the Margit krt ring road and Rómer Flóris utca, and between the Mammut shopping mall and Margaret Island. Thousands pass the site daily, and with a strong corner architecture clearly marking the spot, Boving says he feels particular expectation – and, indeed,
Homework.
duty – to deliver something that truly gives back to the area.
What was once to have been a single use site will now be something else. “The new HomeWork is a unique boutique development not least because of its size; it will offer 13 apartments and a total of 3,500 sqm of office space,” he explains.
The name is a nod to the history of the site, for it includes a monumentally protected former school building dating from 1881 (itself built on the foundations of one of the first schools in Budapest). The façade will be maintained, and the high ceilings and large window areas will be carried over into a complementary but contemporary extension. Residential and office sections will have separate entrances, and there will be a retail unit on the corner and a restored garden area.
“The aim is to give a future legacy to this historical building and to put it back into use,” Boving explains. Building permits were obtained last year, and the current hope it to deliver the project by Q2 2021.
Codic’s third Budapest project is very much a pipeline development, also with a historical angle. Back on Váci út, with Lehel tér metro stop at its doorstep, the V48 project will see another older building, this time a 1930s cigarette paper factory, repurposed, its original façade reinstated and worked in with more contemporary design features to create 15,000 sqm of mixed office and retail space. As with all Codic office developments, BREEAM accreditation will be sort (Green Court Office’s is currently under assessment for an “Excellent” score).
With the plans still on the designer’s drawing board, the building permits will be sought in the course of the year as to allow construction to start in 2020.
“We are always assessing demand, of course, but looking at the amount of take up, the current economic outlook and the forecast, we believe this project, especially with its very central location and unique architecture, will represent a very attractive addition to the market once delivered.”
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“The biggest threat for tenants has been the lack of available, large modern, class ‘A’ spaces where they can secure expansion areas, as most of the multinational tenants are going through frenetic growth. The good news is that developers clearly understand such challenges by delivering the appropriate amount of new supply,” comments Nikolett Püschl, development and leasing manager at Atenor Hungary.
HEADQUARTERS Wing has commenced construction of a 21,400 sqm BTS headquarters for evosoft Hungary. In its largest recent completion, Wing delivered the 58,000 sqm Magyar Telekom Group headquarters. Located in
“If you look at the way the Budapest office market has progressed in recent years, there has been a lot of development and growth, but there has also been a lot of take-up and we see a good balance between requirements for modern space and a diversity of types of new space and the ability of developers to deliver this.”
District IX this currently the largest single office block in Hungary.
“With BTS projects we are able to agree a long-term lease with a
major tenant and this puts us in a position to tailor the building to the specific needs of the tenant. At the same time the tenant needs to commit to a long-term lease of more
than ten years. This is in contrast to those buildings which are designed to a more flexible specification to meet the needs of multi-tenants,” Steinberg says of the development strategy of the Hungarian developer and investor.
Elsewhere, Skanska is developing the third 14,000 sqm phase of it Nordic Light office complex on Váci út. Skanska has acquired a further development plot in District IX and will undertake development of the first 20,000 sqm phase of the three phased Skandanavia Gardens, once a prelease has been agreed.
In another completion, Skanska has delivered its eighth Budapest office project, the speculative 35,000 sqm Mill Park, also in District IX. The LEED “Gold” accredited complex is close to fully let and has already been sold to Erste Real Estate.
Budapest One Business Park in Budapest by Futureal.
In the current market environment, class “A” office developers are able to conclude the necessary preleases and sell a property to investors and exit if necessary and go on to further projects, as is the development policy of Skanska.
LONG-TERM Another long-term Budapest and CEE developer, GTC has officially opened its new Budapest office development, the 21,500 sqm White House on Váci út. The company is continuing to develop the 37,000 sqm Twist and 29,000 sqm Pillar office developments close to the Váci corridor.
In a rare office project in the historical center of Budapest, Horizon Development is currently developing the mixed-use Szervita Square, consisting of 15,000 sqm of office, residential and retail space. The LEED “Platinum” accredited project is due to
