Atenor Completes RoseVille Office Center Development

Despite that uncertainty, commentators see continuing demand for new, sustainable, modern office space.

“One month before the handover of the first tenant’s premises, RoseVille obtained its occupancy permit. The environmentally conscious building, developed by Atenor with a rentable area of 15,500 sqm, will start operating in July this year,” says Máté Galambos, director of leasing at the firm. He expects the complex to be between 60% and 70% occupied by July.

“We are currently signing new leases, which means more news to come soon,” he confirms.

The building, penned by the team led by Géza Szokedensci, co-founder and CEO at Artonic Design Ltd., is Breeam “Excellent” and Access4You “Gold” certified and ESG-compatible. Tenants already include Veeva Systems and L’Oréal.

Atenor says it was one of the first landlords in Budapest to sign so-called “green leases” for the project, located on Bécsi út in Óbuda.

The Belgium-based Atenor has been present in Hungary since 2008 and is known as a leading campus-style office developer. It has taken a similar approach in Bucharest. The concept aims to develop sustainable office and residential schemes that blend organically into the city landscape, enriching the surrounding communities with landscaped public spaces and a wide range of services.

Prelease Concluded

In another significant deal, Atenor has concluded a 16,000 sqm prelease with E.ON to fully let the first phase of its BakerStreet project in South Buda, which is due to be handed over in the second quarter of next year. A second 24,000 sqm project phase is scheduled for completion in late 2024.

At the same time, Atenor’s 72,000 sqm Aréna Business Campus on Hungária körút in District VIII, part of the outer körgyűrű or ring road, is being developed in four phases. The Breeam “Excellent” certified Building A has been in use since 2020. Building B could be handed over as soon as 2024, should the requirements arise, according to Galambos.

The project is one of a limited pipeline of office projects in the Budapest market. Few others are expected to be undertaken in the near future as developers exercise caution given the uncertain office market environment.

Total supply in the Budapest office market has reached 4.3 million sqm according to the Budapest Research Forum, consisting of CBRE, Colliers, Cushman & Wakefield, Eston International, JLL, and Robertson Hungary. That may seem a sizeable figure, but the stock per capita is low; therefore, there is growth potential and an apparent undersupply, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

CBRE has traced a further 320,000 sqm of modern office space under construction in Budapest. The vacancy rate has risen to a little more than 12%. The consultancy puts office completions for this year at 203,000 sqm.   

“Processes have been extremely slow in the past few months, and I expect that the summer period will be even slower. Even though vacancy is on the rise, I can see demand on the market, which is a good sign,” notes Galamos.

“In the first quarter of 2023, renewals dominated the market in terms of leasing activity, but, in my opinion, tenants will have to be quick to make decisions with the rather limited new office stock that is about to enter the market,” he warns.

This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of June 30, 2023.