Real Estate Deal of the Year

Hungary-based real estate developer TriGránit has sold a majority stake in four of its Budapest buildings for some HUF 45 billion (EUR 148.12 m). The buyer is U.S.-based Heitman European Property that had previously bought a 50% stake in Arena Centar in Zagreb from TriGranit.

The deal involves the formation of a joint venture to own and operate four Class-A office properties totaling 70,000 square meters in Budapest, PropertyEU reported. The assets, known as ‘The Millennium Portfolio’, were developed by TriGránit, who will also act as asset manager.

The portfolio is located in the 9th district of Budapest on the Pest bank of the Danube, sitting within the Millennium City Center. The properties are well leased to international tenants including Morgan Stanley, Vodafone, Nestle and Schering Plough. Heitman is making the investment on behalf of Heitman European Property Partners IV (HEPP IV).

"We developed the Millennium City Center during a difficult time for the Hungarian real estate markets. The success of the entire project however – including the office portfolio – is further proof that there is significant demand for quality projects in the region," Árpád Török, CEO of TriGránit Development Corporation said.

"The transaction boosts this year’s total volume of real estate sales by 50% in Hungary," Török told Hungarian business weekly Figyelõ in an interview. "It is true, though, that the transactions will still not reach EUR 400 million, while developers sold five times that much back in 2007."

(source: portfolio.hu)