The Roosevelt Office Building Changed Hands

OTP Real Estate Investment Fund is expanding its portfolio with a prestige office building by acquiring the Roosevelt Office Building on Széchenyi Square. This is one of the most excellent office buildings in Budapest. The premium 26,000 squaremeters property was purchased by OTP Group Real Estate Fund in one of the most significant transactions in the CEE real estate market with GLL Real Estate Partners (GLL), a Munich-based fund manager in the Macquarie group.

The OTP Real Estate Investment Fund has made a number of real estate acquisitions in the recent years in order to invest capital into the country into high quality and yield generating properties, while maintaining high yield levels. This measure made the Real Estate Investment Fund extremely popular with investors. The office market has also been the focus of the Fund in recent years: in 2017 it acquired the Westend Business Center, in 2018 Corvin 1-3 office buildings, and with the acquisition of MOM Park last year, the Fund acquired a significant role in the retail real estate segment, and now the Roosevelt Office Building on Széchenyi tér was added to the portfolio.

The Roosevelt Office Building was completely remodeled in 2006 to meet the demands of the modern real estate market, and was rebuilt in 2016 by its owner to ensure the property is premium. The building has a magnificent view of Széchenyi Square, the Chain Bridge and the Buda Castle.

The office building currently offers A-class offices on 24,200 squaremmeters, complete with 1,800 squaremeters of commercial and catering space on the ground floor. 95 percent of the office building has already been leased to 17 domestic and foreign companies.

Dr. Nándor Tóth, Chief Executive Officer of OTP Real Estate Investment Fund Management Ltd., said in connection with the transaction: “While Hungarian real estate funds have been fevered by intensified acquisition pressure in recent years due to intense capital inflows, this year the regulatory changes and the sharpening have come. The acquisition of the premium-class Roosevelt Office Building is, I believe, of great importance to our investors, as real estate will play a major role in maintaining and increasing the yield of our Real Estate Investment Fund in the future, as well as its balance.”

“With our latest transaction, we follow our acquisition strategy of previous years, so the newly acquired Roosevelt Office Building represents outstanding quality: its location is excellent as well as the services it provides. It has a high occupancy, reliable and partly international tenant structure. we have all the potential to strengthen the performance of the Real Estate Investment Fund as a successful portfolio element in the long run,” added Eszter Salamon, Director of Priority Projects at OTP Real Estate Investment Fund Management Ltd.

The seller was established by GLL Real Estate Partners as a member of the Macquarie Group. GLL was sponsored by Cushman & Wakefield and the Law Firm Lakatos, Köves & Partners. GLL manages almost 7 billion EUR in assets and currently owns commercial real estate in excess of 1.5 billion EUR in Central and Eastern Europe. These include two Hungarian buildings, the Váci 1 Office Building and the Bank Center.

Source:

Atv.hu