Cordia starts Spain pilot project, grows CEE presence

Marbella, Spain, where the developerʼs pilot project takes place (photo: Shutterstock.com)

The Futureal Group is one of the leading real estate development and investment firms in the CEE region (Hungary, Romania and Poland), which has numerous commercial and office projects, including the Corvin Promenade in Budapest, as well as the Etele Plaza and Budapest One office park, both currently under development, notes a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.

The groupʼs residential developer Cordia has delivered more than 1,000 apartments in Poland so far, and plans to start building another 1,400 homes in Warsaw, Kraków, and Gdańsk. The company recently announced its highest-ever residential building on the banks of the river Vistula: the 54.5-meter Horyzont Praga in Warsaw. Prior to that, two developments have been completed this year, and two are under construction. Cordia says its goal is to become one of the top ten players in a very competitive environment, by delivering 1,500-2,000 homes a year.

In the Romanian capital of Bucharest, the company is building nearly 500 new apartments in two phases. Cordia purchased 13 plots with more than 1.5 hectares for this investment in 2017​, with the area expected to become a new business center. Several more projects are under preparation in the city, with a total of more than 800 homes.

Alongside regional markets, Cordia has started its operation – under a pilot project – in Spain, and intends to build more than 80 luxury homes on a newly purchased, 7-hectare seaview property in Marbella.

Strategic goals

“Our strategic goal is to become a major property developer on the European level as well, by building on our nearly two decades of experience and focusing on the leading cities in the Central-Eastern European region in the medium term,” says Gábor Futó, founder of Cordia. “Step-by-step, we are planting new seeds in attractive markets where, once the first few projects have been successfully implemented and a local team has been established, we can achieve organic growth later on. Cordia is now considered to be the most diversified property developer in the region, which means enormous benefits in terms of risk management and capital allocation.”

“As part of Cordiaʼs organic expansion, we are creating local real estate development teams in markets showing strong growth with at least 5,000 new homes sold annually,” adds Cordia CEO Tibor Földi. “The Polish economy and the housing market have remained stable during the economic crisis, which makes the leading cities in Poland attractive. In Bucharest, outdated housing stock, steady wage growth, strong consumer interest and relatively low new home prices create favorable conditions, while in Spain optimism is triggered by wage growth and decreasing unemployment, while the demand side of the real estate market is boosted by foreign buyers.”

In addition to more than 4,000 homes currently under construction – 80% in Hungary, 14% in Poland, and 6% in Romania – Cordia is preparing the development of more than 5,000 apartments. About half of these concern Hungary, nearly 30% are in Poland, 20% in Romania, and 2% in Spain.

“These numbers prove our commitment that Hungary will always play a key role in our operations, in addition to our international expansion, as we expect strong demand to continue in Budapest as well,” notes Földi.

Cordia had consolidated revenues of EUR 61.7 million last year, noted state news agency MTI.