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REAL ESTATE review
PRESENTED CONTENT
50 YEARS OF PIONEERING ADDED VALUE Even amid the turmoil and confusion of the coronavirus outbreak, international developer Codic Group, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, says it has kept its projects on track in Hungary. “The immediate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our industry has been immense, although it appears to be less worse in Budapest than in Western Europe,” Christophe Boving, general manager of Codic Hungary tells Real Estate REview. “As has happened with all of us, our business has continued from home working.” Contact has been maintained with tenants and investors, but operating practices have had to be amended. Progress at Green Court Office, Codic’s 20,200 sqm project on Dózsa György út, just off the Váci út Corridor, has continued. A deal was signed with a major anchor client in December, which means 65% of the project, due for delivery in Q1 2022, is now pre-leased. “It is clear COVID-19 has put a sudden halt on the leasing market,” Boving says. That was understandable, he adds; as the crisis unfolded, companies had to focus on more immediate demands, looking after their own staff and working out how they were going to function. Despite that, work on actual construction was able to continue after Codic’s general contractor
introduced health and safety measures such as extra disinfectant points. Fortunately, the project is at such a stage structurally that it does not require large numbers of people in close quarters. There has been much talk about the future requirements from offices once the pandemic passes. Boving says flexibility is the key. “We already like to integrate in our planning anything that offers very varied and safe work spaces. Many things will happen after this crisis that could be for the better; offices will have much less dense occupancy and will be more about the quality. Basically, as a developer, you have to adapt to the human factor.” For Hungary at least, Boving believes this crisis could resolve much quicker compared to the global financial crisis in 2008. “The fundamentals prior to the pandemic were much better. I do not think it will develop in the longterm into a negative spiral. But it is going to be a very difficult economic period and will take time for the financials to recover.” Green Court Offices is not the only development Codic has ongoing in Budapest. It is part of a bigger mixeduse office and residential project with some retail and services. Green Court
Christophe Boving
Residences was started in 2017 and is planned for delivery this year. “Sales reached 95% at the end of last year. Even under the present conditions, we have been selling shop units and client services; there has been no problem in that respect. We expect to hand over on site in the next two months.” CODIC DOING ITS HOMEWORK There is a third boutique development which was launched last year, called HomeWork. The name is a play on the history of the site; the project includes the renovation and repurposing of one of the capital’s first school buildings. Overall, the building will offer 3,600 sqm of premium offices, 15 high-end apartments and 126 sqm of prime retail space at the corner of Margit körút and Rómer Flóris utca, mixing classical and contemporary architecture. Given the historical nature of the building, and the location of the site itself, getting all the necessary permissions has taken more than a little time. Work, not least on the restoration and expansion of the square Codic will maintain to “give back some splendor” as a public space for tenants and the neighborhood, is
