Landmark Property Sold in Budapest, Hungary

Colliers International Hungary has pleasure in announcing the sale of an investment grade office building located in central Budapest. Colliers International acted for a prominent Hungarian development company called Budapesti Ingatlan Hasznosítási és Fejlesztési Nyrt, or BIF for short.

The building was sold for a value of 3.8 billion HUF (approximately EUR14.1m) to a Hungarian Investment Fund. The building located on Üllői út, a main arterial route to Budapest Airport, has a net office area of some 7,700 sqm and is fully leased to a leading Hungarian Bank.

“The sale is significant,” commented Hamish White, Partner at Colliers International Hungary, “in that as far as we can tell it’s the first stand alone office building of investment grade transacted in Budapest for almost eighteen months, and in our opinion this is a sign that our investment market is starting to function.”

“Colliers International conducted an intense marketing campaign starting late summer 2009 with the result being five companies bidding for the property. Investors saw an opportunity to purchase an A class asset with secure cash flow at an attractive return. The marketing of this property certainly helped us see a growing demand from both institutional and private investment companies to consider investing in sustainable office buildings and we are hopeful of closing further transactions during 2010,” stated Istvan Leriche, Associate Director at Colliers International Hungary, who managed the transaction.

BIF is a publicly listed property company being traded on the Budapest Stock Exchange since 1995 and have been developing and investing in a number of real estate projects over the years. Notable projects are Flórián Udvar office complex, Castrum House and Ü48 office building. Mr. Gabor Angel, Development Manager for BIF, stated that the fact that the building was 100% pre-leased in 2009 and sold demonstrates the quality of the development and they are planning further such projects.