Futureal also sells mall to OTP Property Investment Fund
Futureal has sold its Sziget Center shopping mall in Hungary to OTP Property Investment Fund as part of the deal that also saw the purchase of the Skypark office building, according to a press statement sent to the Budapest Business Journal.
After a repositioning, the 23,600 sqm center located on the outskirts of Budapest has managed to attract high-profile tenants and tripled its lease income over the last two-and-a-half years, thus triggering interest from one of Hungary’s biggest property investment funds, Futureal says
The Sziget Center shopping mall is located in the heart of Csepel Island, on the outskirts of Budapest, next to the non-public Tököl airport. Its customer base is the more than 90,000 residents of the nearby settlements: Szigethalom; Szigetszentmiklós; Halásztelek; and Tököl.
The purchasing power of the area exceeds the Hungarian average and the domestic consumption of the residents are forecasted to rise in the coming years, according to Futureal. The accessibility of the area is excellent by car and public transport, and the suburban train line (HÉV) is only a few minutes away, the real estate firm adds. Sziget Center is currently the largest retail center on Csepel Island, and the appearance of any competition is deemed highly unlikely in the coming years.
Futureal purchased Sziget Center in 2014. In the last three years, the center has attracted several international tenants, increasing the leased area by more than 9,000 sqm. These newcomers include international clothing store operators C&A and H&M, the decor and furnishing chain Jysk; clothing and household goods network Pepco, household products and cosmetics distributor Euro Family and electronics retailer Euronics.
“In the past two and a half years, we have managed to perform a successful repositioning of Sziget Center by attracting the largest brands and thus tripling leasing income of the shopping mall,” said Gábor Futó, founder of Futureal Group. “The essence of this process was to strengthen the shopping center’s convenience offering, while creating a strong fashion supply. Thanks to the great infrastructure and location, the center is expected to bolster its supply with further international retail chains and increase its popularity among the residents of the area, becoming a truly dominant local center,” he added.
“The OTP Property Investment Fund has been of the most popular product of its kind in the last few years,” said Dr. Zsolt Barna, president and CEO of OTP Real Estate Investment Fund Management Ltd. “However, we had to adapt to the changing trends on the real estate market. For this reason we have begun a long-term project of developing our investment portfolio. As part of this process we have been looking to purchase high-end logistic and retail properties with high yield potentials. We are confident that our latest investment, Sziget Center fits this bill perfectly. However, this purchase is not the last step in the process, we are still looking for projects in Budapest and the surrounding areas,” Barna noted.
Avg Hourly Pay Rate for Blue-collar Workers Climbs 16% in Q1
Bulgaria's Household Income, Spending Rise 20% in 2023
Job Fair and Career Prep at Corvinus Starts Tomorrow
Spago Budapest Offering Unique Sunday Brunch Experience
SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
