WING Industrial has concluded a major agreement with a leading regional parcel logistics operator at East Gate Pro Business Park. The business park, the latest phase of the popular East Gate project, is located at the junction of the M3 and M0 motorways. The third hall of East Gate PRO Park was completed last year, and now there is a long-term pre-lease agreement for the fourth hall, B2. The 9,000-square-meter building, a build-to-suit (BTS) development with a pre-lease agreement, is to be completed by the end of 2024.

Tibor Tatár heads the Hungarian residential and office development business of WING, one of the leading real estate development and investment groups in the Central European real estate market, from 10 January 2024. In this newly created position, he will be responsible for the implementation of WING's Hungarian residential and office development strategy, the management of the business, and the preparation, execution and overall supervision of projects in these areas.

One of Accor’s fastest-growing hotel brands across Europe, TRIBE, opens the doors of its first hotel in Budapest. Together with ibis, the newly constructed dual-branded hotel is located in Liberty, WING’s unique mixed-use project. ibis & TRIBE Budapest Stadium offers 332 hotel rooms, split evenly by the two brands, and a complex set up with various F&B outlets, as well as meeting and fitness facilities.

Compared to other cities, gross yields in Budapest, calculated from purchase prices and revenue from rent, are among the highest, which means the Hungarian capital is still a great destination for those investing in residential property. While the prices of apartments have skyrocketed in recent years in Hungary, in an international context, residential property in Budapest is still quite inexpensive. To provide potential (Hungarian and foreign) investors with sufficient information, LIVING, Hungary’s leading residential property developer, partnered with the ELTINGA research centre to conduct another joint study, presenting the opportunities the residential property market has to offer in Hungary in general, and in Budapest in particular.

Property Investment Forum brought us Property Awards again this year, celebrating the most significant achievements of the past 12 months. WING won the Real Estate Investment Transaction of the Year – Abroad category with the acquisition of the majority of Bauwert AG’s shares, and the Office Rental Transaction of the Year category with its agreement with Lightware on the lease of a building in HOP Technology Office Park.

East Gate Pro Business Park, WING’s latest industrial development project, has reached a new milestone with the delivery of hall A2 in phase two. An additional area of 9,100 square meters is now available in the newly completed hall building for production, assembly, fulfilment and warehousing purposes.

LIVING’s Kassák Terrace residential development, the third and final phase of the 740-unit Kassák project, has reached its highest point. Located in District 13, at the intersection of Klapka utca and Kassák Lajos utca, just a short walk from Váci út, the residential park will have 246 apartments with AA+ energy rating and advanced, cost-effective technical solutions. The construction work at Kassák Terrace is on schedule, with handover – and the completion of the whole Kassák project – expected in the first half of 2025. Sales of the third and final phase apartments have already started.

The MagyarBrands program was launched over 10 years ago with the aim of recognising excellent brands created in Hungary or established by Hungarians. The program evaluates the most successful Hungarian brands, and the recognition has become a guarantee of reliability and quality for the market, business partners and consumers alike. WING won the award in the "Outstanding Business Brand" category again this year, making the group an eight-time MagyarBrands winner.

EuropaProperty organized the 5th CRE Real Estate Awards to recognize the best buildings, companies, property deals and industry professionals on the market in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Balkans. This year WING has won the Investor category, the Office Developer category and the Residential Developer category with LIVING, WING’s residential development umbrella brand. The Project of the Year award was given to LIVING’s Kassák Passage residential development in the Residential Project category.

Construction has started on a new hotel at Budapest Ferenc Liszt Airport, developed by WING in cooperation with Budapest Airport. The new TRIBE is being built next to the ibis Styles Budapest Airport Hotel, which opened in 2018, located within walking distance from the entrance to Terminal 2. The 8000 square meters, functional design hotel with 167 rooms will offer both business and leisure travellers an outstanding guest experience, thanks to quality services and expanding conference capacities.

IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world’s leading hospitality companies and WING, a leading property development and investment group in Central Europe, are proud to announce the signing of Hotel Indigo Budapest Andrassy and Holiday Inn Express Vagohid. Signed at real estate trade fair, EXPO Real 2023, both properties mark brand debuts to Hungary, demonstrating investment and growth in the premium and essentials hotel segments.

LIVING, one of Hungary's leading residential property developers, has reached an important milestone as the second phase of its highly successful Park West project has received its final use permit, marking the handover of the 234-apartment project. The residential complex will offer sunny, terraced, energy-efficient homes in the heart of the vibrant 13th district, and will also provide community services and smart solutions to itsresidents, in line with LIVING's standards. In addition, ahead of the project's handover, LIVING has reached its 1000th technical handover! The residential building still has available apartments ready for immediate occupancy, which can be eligible for urban CSOK subsidies. Sales are ongoing.

Archicom, a company of ECHO Investment Group focusing on residential developments, raised PLN 220 million in a new share issue. Majority-owned by WING, ECHO Investment is the largest property developer in Poland. Archicom will use most of the capital raised for the purchase of plots for its future developments. The company is planning to sell 4000 apartments per year in the future.

WING has published its second ESG report, reaffirming its commitment to operating sustainably. In the report, WING, the leading real estate company on the Central European market, provides information about its environmental, social, and governance efforts, as well as its goals, the measures it has taken and the results it has achieved in 2022. The report has been prepared in accordance with the Company’s first comprehensive ESG strategy, which will be finalised soon. This strategy sets long term sustainability goals and lays out a roadmap to achieving them.

Top 50 Real Estate Executives 2023 is a special annual publication of the BBJ Budapest Business Journal, which presents the profiles of the most influential real estate executives working in the Hungarian economy. Noah Steinberg, CEO and Chairman of WING is included in this list. In an interview he explains what he sees as the biggest challenges in today's real estate market, why ESG reporting is important, and he discusses WING's environmental activities.

The renovation of Liget Center, a WING development in the heart of Budapest, right next to City Park, is about to reach another milestone: a new building, Liget Center Vitrum, will join the existing office buildings, Liget Center Classic and the iconic Auditorium. At the same time, the visual identity of Liget Center, the umbrella brand of the buildings, is being updated: it will be modern and distinctive while reflecting the history of the building complex.

The first phase of Le Jardin (‘the Garden’ in French), LIVING's greenest residential development, in Rozsnyay street in the 13th district, has reached its highest point. The eco-friendly residential park with 165 apartments is located on the shore of the Rákos stream, in an excellent, green zone location. LIVING has been focusing on environmentally conscious solutions throughout the investment, and the apartments have better-than-average technical aspects and energy-efficient solutions. The construction of the residential park is progressing on schedule, and the first phase is expected to be handed over in the second half of 2024. Le Jardin’s apartments are an ideal choice for families, elderly couples and everyone who appreciates a suburban atmosphere and the protection of the environment. Apartments are still available in the residential building and sales are ongoing.

WING’s mixed-use flagship property development, Liberty, has reached a major milestone. The office area in the south wing has received its use permit, and the first tenants, eMAG and GEODIS, have already moved in. At the same time, the Focivilág Absolute Teamsport sports store is now open on the ground floor. In the next phase, Hungary’s first newly built dual-branded hotel is expected to open by the end of the year under the names ibis & Tribe Budapest Stadium. Meanwhile, development of the north wing is underway with a total of 20,000 square metres of office area and it is expected to open in the first half of 2024, where office spaces is still available.

For the fifth consecutive year, WING has been supporting the work of SOS Children's Village, thus ensuring the Foundation's long-term commitment as a regular donator, as a Best Partner, with HUF 5 million this year. For many years now, WING has been committed to helping young people catch up and nurturing their talents, which is why it is of the utmost importance for the company to actively contribute to the creation of equal opportunities for children together with its employees.

Halls A1 and B1, completed in the first phase of WING’s East Gate Pro Business Park development, have received BREEAM International New Construction certification with “Very Good” rating. One of the features that contributed to this rating was the energy- and water-efficient management of the halls. Eco-friendly, easy-to-clean building materials with no harmful components were used in the development, and special focus was put on energy-efficient solutions and on reducing the environmental impact by recycling the waste generated during the construction.

Skylight CITY, an office building developed by WING, has received a Very Good rating under the BREEAM In-Use sustainability certification scheme. The certification highlights the water and energy efficient management and operation of the building, the features that promote the well-being and health of its users, and the green environment, as well as the amenities provided to tenants and visitors.

The headquarters of Telekom, a WING development, has a new tenant: Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions has moved to its new headquarters in the iconic office building that defines the cityscape of south Pest. This means that one of the largest office buildings in Hungary now has multiple tenants. There is still leasable space available to prospective tenants.

WING completed ibis Styles Budapest Airport Hotel five years ago, and it is operated by WING and Accor hotels. The hotel has now received another award. The Best of Budapest & Hungary 2022 Award in the best 3-star hotels category is the latest addition to a long list of awards for the hotel. This is the third award that the 145-room, 5,200 square meter hotel with significant conference and catering capacities has won this year.

Another significant tech company has chosen Hungária Office Park (HOP), a WING development. Lightware Zrt. is moving its headquarters to the park in autumn 2023, to a 7000 sq m office building, which will be fully renovated by WING to suit 21st century needs and all the tenant’s special requirements.

WING won again the Business Superbrands Award 2023, which recognises outstanding brand quality and brand building, as decided by the Superbrands Hungary committee of marketing and management professionals.

The renovation of Liget Center, a WING development, is about to reach a new milestone: a graceful, new building with an all-glass facade will join the existing office buildings – Liget Center Classic and Liget Center Auditorium – in the inner courtyard. Liget Center Vitrum will offer future tenants an additional 2200 square meters of leasable area in the city centre with a number of green and smart solutions.

WING, a leading property developer and investor in Hungary and one of the major groups on the Central European property market, has won the Best of the Best Retail Development award with GOBUDA Mall. The Hungarian development received the first prize in an international field at this year’s prestigious Best of the Best Hall of Fame (HOF) awards ceremony.

WING’s transaction in the German property market has been officially completed, so the Hungarian group is now a major player in the property development market in three countries. WING concluded an agreement in late 2022 to acquire a majority stake in Bauwert AG. By acquiring a majority stake in the leading German property company, WING is implementing its international expansion plans: the transaction is another step towards becoming the leading property development group in the Central European property market.

Nurturing the talent of children and young adults is a focus area for WING, so the company is sponsoring the National Scientific Students' Associations Conference (OTDK) for the 4th time now, as a diamond level sponsor of the technical section and the main sponsor of the economics section. The two sections are connected to the property market in more ways than one, so, besides the empowerment of talented young people, this sponsorship also contributes to the industry’s future labour supply.

WING Zrt.'s Corporate Sales Relations and Business Development, Chief Sales Officer (CSO) believes that, like any challenging period, this one will have its winners. She says that the fact that speculative developments are continuing despite the market turbulence is a clear sign of confidence in the sector and secure demand. We discussed the fine-tuning of logistics services, energy prices, the potential of 20-year-old buildings and ESG - among many other exciting topics.