A Benchmark Transaction in CEE. Union Investment Purchases Szervita Square Building
The commercial part of Horizon Development’s LEED Platinum certified premium mixed-use Budapest downtown property; Szervita Square Building was purchased by Union Investment for one of its institutional real estate funds. The parties agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price.
Adam Irányi, Head of Investment Management Office, Europe, reflected on the benchmark deal: “We are re-entering the Hungarian property investment market with the current purchase of Szervita Square Building. This exceptional technical and aesthetic quality downtown Budapest asset with its diverse tenant mix and over 95% commercial occupancy level convinced us to return to Hungary.”
Union Investment is one of Europe’s leading real estate investment companies with AuM (Assets under Management) totaling some 50 billion euros.
Gabriella Sasvári managing partner and development director at Horizon Development explained: “In Szervita Square Building we separated the office, retail and parking areas from the luxury residential units in a technical, legal and property management sense. The well-defined entities made it possible for the investment sales transaction of the commercial areas to be independent from the private purchases of the luxury residential units.”
Virág Bihari partner and majority shareholder of Horizon Development in charge of overseeing the divestment process added: “The successful sale of Szervita Square Building to a German core investor with extremely high quality and sustainability standards proves our international development competence and that core pricing for excellent assets is possible in CEE markets. Szervita Square Building was conceptualized and realized in line with principles of ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) and inclusion. Our international tenancy of great covenant, the overall social acceptance of the project, as well as the current divestment transaction confirms our ambitions to continue developing premium, sustainable and marketable projects.”
On behalf of Horizon Development, we would like to thank our financing bank: UniCredit Bank; our advisors: Lakatos, Köves and Partners, CBRE and Deloitte; and all business partners who contributed to the success of the transaction.