There is a continuously growing interest in Hungary towards the environmental-conscious buildings. There are certain financial advantages for the tenants in these buildings, as the leasing and operational costs can be significantly decreased through the more cost-effective maintenance of these buildings.

„Krisztina Palace, the property of Union Investment Real Estate GmbH has been awarded the BREEAM In Use ’Very Good’ rating in two categories: Asset and Building Management. It is our pleasure to see this building copes with this assessment alone and with basic investment, and that we managed to meet the strict requirements of one of the world’s foremost environmental assessment system.” – said Zsolt Temesvári, senior property manager of AIG/Lincoln. AIG/Lincoln has a pioneer role in introducing environmental-conscious buildings in Hungary, as The Quadrum office building at the airport has achieved the BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating at the construction phase for the building plans, which was a novelty in 2008. Temesvári added: “This environmental assessment is the benchmark of the economic efficiency, as the operation of the building is less expensive, and therefore, companies leasing an office space in Krisztina Palace can save on leasing and facility expenses, as well. Moreover, our medium-term project is to develop the building to the Breeam ‘Excellent’ category“

The evaluating process started first in the summer of 2014, so it took 6 months to get the rating. It was an advantage that time- and cost demanding developments were not necessary to proceed, as the newly built building (2010) were originally built with up to date, energy-saving and environmental friendly technologies. The asset performed well in the category of Pollution and Waste handling, as well, and had an outstanding score in the category of Transport. The building is not concerned with any flood risk and it puts emphasis on managing waste and disposal methods by using environmental friendly and economically efficient solutions such as operation of a waste compactor and collection of recyclable wastes. Groundwater or rainwater usage, and also the usage of alternative (renewable) energy sources or energy providers will be considered in the future. As a result of the BIU assessment, the facility management company already improved the way of communication to the tenants.

Krisztina Palace is located in the heart of Buda and is one of Budapest’s most iconic and modern, Grade A office buildings extending to circa 18,000 sq m.  Owing to the property’s high quality specification and efficient layout, it has attracted many high calibre international tenants over the last 12 months to include Emirates, Mazars and Innodox Technologies. Emirates opened their second European Contact Centre in Budapest at Krisztina Palace and currently occupy circa 3,000 sq m. Mazars, who selected Krisztina Palace due to its modern technical features now occupy 1,200 sq m and Innodox, an IT provider of flexible document solutions, relocated from an older building to Krisztina Palace due to the flexibility of the Landlord and the creative atmosphere on offer (now occupy circa 510 sq m). In addition to these tenants – the leasing momentum is going well and the Landlords’ is currently under negotiations with several other well-known tenants for the remaining circa 6,500 sq m. We are confident of further successes and new leases signed at Krisztina Palace over the course of the next few months.
David M Johnston MRICS, Head of Office Agency at Cushman & Wakefield Budapest said: ’There is no doubt that Krisztina Palace has proved to be one of the most popular offices in Buda over the last 12 months and the fact we now have the leasing traction on our side – we hope to be able to announce some future transactions in the short-term. Given the resurgence of the occupier market in Budapest, buildings like Krisztina Palace are perfectly positioned to enjoy the increase in activity and offer the optimum occupational solution to tenants.’’

 

Cushman