"Property developer Whitestone is to build a new multifunctional retail and office complex in the middle of the commercial area of Budaörs, directly next to the motorway, with an investment of nearly EUR 50 million. Solaris City, the construction of which is expected to be finished by 2009, will include retail stores and class A offices on 50,000 square metres.Commercial centres are continuously built in Budapest and its surroundings. Solaris City will be the first traditional shopping centre in the Budaörs neighbourhood.
Solaris City, together with Solaris Park, will fit into one of the biggest real estate developments in Hungary: construction of Solaris City will start in Q1 2008 as part of an investment on 17 hectares realised by different developers.
Apart from the commercial buildings, a sports and leisure centre, a park on several hectares with a lake, and a residential area with 400 units will also be built in this new city centre initiated by the Budaörs Municipality.
As part of the gigantic investment, construction of the municipal swimming pool and sports centre has already started directly next to Solaris City - the structure of the 10,000 square metre building is already visible from the joint section of motorways M1 and M7.
The investor of Solaris City is URBANA Kft, its developer is Whitestone Investment Consulting Kft.
Whitestone has developed a number of commercial and residential projects in the past few years and is currently involved in projects like Palazzo Dorottya and Mill Lofts luxury homes. Whitestone is also the developer of Neo Center, the shopping and office centre on Határ Street to be opened in 2009; the company is also planning to build a logistics centre in Törökbálint in the near future.
Solaris City offices and retail stores here will be directly accessible from the M1 and M7 motorways and the connecting service roads.
According to Thierry Delvaux, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, the office leasing agency for Solaris, demand for office buildings in South Buda and the peripheries of the city far exceeds supply, while not a single office building has been handed over in 2007 in the Budaörs area.
Apart from its location, potential tenants may also be attracted by the park, the wide range of available services and the high quality provided for reasonable leasing fees compared with those in Budapest.
Katalin Csókás, retail property consultant of GVA Robertson, added that the primary target group of Solaris City retail stores are the inhabitants of Budaörs: according to a recent market research, more than 70% of the questioned locals would visit Solaris City. Inhabitants of Törökbálint, Budakeszi, Biatorbágy, Diósd, Érd, and the South Buda districts can also be counted on. These people represent a purchasing power far above the average, and because of the especially good traffic conditions, they can reach the centre of Budaörs and Solaris City in 10-15 minutes.
Due to this fact, the area has been developing at an incredible rate in recent years and, according to the developer, this tendency will continue in the future. Norbert Galfusz, responsible for commercial development and business administration at Whitestone Investment Ltd., said that although the density of retail stores in the area is exceptionally high, Solaris will be the first traditional multifunctional shopping centre in the neighbourhood, and there is apparently great need for that.
As a result, Galfusz claims that there is still great development potential in the Hungarian shopping center market, especially in the outskirts of Budapest and the surrounding settlements."
Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal
22.11.2007