Structural work has been completed on what will be the first modern hotel/office complex on Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos utca, the rundown boulevard which runs from the Elizabeth Bridge to Astoria in Pest’s central business district. According to napi.hu, the First Site project, which sits on the site of the former Socialist-style Úttörő Áruház department store, will consist of a 190-room, four-star hotel and an adjoining office building containing 4,000 square-meter of class “A” commercial space, the latter of which will be open to tenants sometime next spring. The development – which totals nearly 23,000 square meters – will also include a health and fitness center and plenty of retail, and both the developers and local district politicians hope the new complex can help revive Kossuth Lajos utca by luring back shoppers and strollers.
One unique aspect of the office section is the above-average volume of parking spaces. For each 50 square meters of office, there is one parking spot, while in other downtown office buildings, this figure is 150 square meters. The office rent is said to be a competitive €17-€20 per square meter.
The €35 million project was bought by Uniqa Real Estate in 2006, and the developer is TerraConsult. The parts of the building which are reminiscent of the past are the two atriums – one open and one roofed – and a fountain by 20th century ceramics artist Margit Kovács which used to stand in the entrance hall of the Úttörő Áruház.