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REAL ESTATE review
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS GOING AHEAD DESPITE EMERGENCY SITUATION The number of cranes around the city provides evidence that construction work is ongoing at development projects despite the lockdown situation. Rising construction costs and the scarcity of labor have been seen as major obstacles to development and, therefore, market growth across the different private and public property sectors. By Gary J. Morrell Many construction workers had been taking advantage of the considerably higher salaries they can earn in Northern Europe. The construction industry now faces further challenges with further safety and hygiene regulations that have been imposed due to the COVID-19 virus. Developers are reporting that projects are going ahead as scheduled, although there are some delays in the permitting process and the delivery of materials from abroad, due to the lockdown. “Fortunately, the current pandemic situation did not result in any delay of our office projects, neither building-wise nor leased premises wise,” says Nikolett Püschl, leasing and development director at Atenor Hungary.
“By the time of the start of the lockdown, we had already achieved a very advanced status in all of three ongoing constructions. On the one hand all materials were already in place, furthermore our development strategy, of not using a general contractor but working with subcontractors who are fully managed by our in-house project managers, proved to be the most secure and professional choice in this case as well,” Püschl adds. Building “A”, the first at the Aréna Business campus, has been completed and received its occupancy permit. The handover of the 21,000 sqm office building met the deadline of the original schedule. In parallel, the construction of the second,
Libery office project, under construction by Wing.
Building “B” is in full swing and should be completed by the second quarter of 2021. “Aréna Business Campus Building “A” and Buildings “E” and “F” in Váci Greens are being built continuously. We introduced the strictest health and hygiene procedures; obviously, we try to give everything to the contractors who work for us according to their requests. Of course it is one’s own decision whether they wish to work further on the site; for now, I can report that contractors perform their contracted commitments to nearly 95%, which is very good news,” she says. SAFETY MEASURES As with other areas of the economy developers have to conform to additional safety and hygiene measures due to the coronavirus. “During lockdown, certain official procedures slowed and we also experienced minor labor shortage as many foreign workers decided to return home,” Skanska reports. “Building material flow also slowed down as outputs were reduced and delivery times were growing. Nowadays, the situation appears to have stabilized. Nevertheless, social distancing, face masks, hand sanitizing stations and other
