The development is being constructed on a 76-hectare plot with the capacity for a total of 330,000 sqm of warehouse and industrial space. HelloParks says it is targeting logistics service providers, light industry manufacturers, and assembly companies, as well as tenants with special requirements.

At the same time, the first tenants have started to move into HelloParks’ Maglód megapark, also located in the Budapest area.

“The composition of tenants is already outlined: negotiations are at an advanced stage, mainly with e-commerce, parcel logistics, and courier businesses, as well as logistics companies serving a single manufacturing company,” comments the Futureal Group, HelloParks’ parent company. The firm recently announced another large-scale development close to Budapest at a 100-hectare site in Páty.

“All three are highly competitive, efficient, and sustainable megapark developments that have been launched in just over a year by HelloParks, driven by the company’s aim to become a key player of the industry,” the company says.

Initial steps will be taken in Hungary before it later steps out into the whole CEE market, with the aim of contributing to the improvement of Hungary’s position in the international logistics market.

Growing Trend

The Futureal HelloParks project reflects the growing trend for developers in Hungary and the region who have not traditionally been industrial developers to move into the sector due to anticipated long-term high demand and low supply.

“To improve Hungary’s competitiveness, the construction industry must also change. Logistics companies typically like to move into facilities within a year, which currently cannot be properly implemented in such a short time unless the area has already been set,” comments Rudolf Nemes, CEO of HelloParks.

“This trend is again something that HelloParks developments can respond to; keeping the deadline, we recently handed over a 46,000 sqm warehouse building as the first phase of the Maglód industrial and logistics megapark, where the first tenant has already moved in just five months after construction started,” he explained.

“We are experiencing strong interest from prospective tenants; we are in advanced negotiations for all our free space in Maglód, and our next tenant will move in soon. […] We have already started planning and permitting the next phases so that we can serve existing and future needs as quickly as possible,” Nemes says.

“We think there is a lot of space for other players who really intend to improve the industry. There is a need for a change in the mindset with regards to sustainability that enhances the wellbeing of the people working in the warehouse, of course with zero impact on nature and to the benefit for the local communities,” the CEO says.

“Round Budapest, we will have at least the three locations we have at the moment, and there will be possibly four or five. Outside of Budapest, there will be further locations in the countryside, and we will enter other countries in the region,” he promises.   

This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of October 8, 2021.