The new owner of a landmark building once used as the headquarters of the Hungarian postal system, commonly called the Post Office Palace (Postapalota), is considering turning it into a hotel, writes napi.hu. The turreted castle-style building, which was built in 1925 and is located on Buda’s Krisztina körút overlooking the gritty but highly-trafficked Moszkva tér, was bought by WING Zrt (formerly Wallis Ingatlan Zrt) in March, following a tender.
János Gerő, deputy CEO of WING Zrt, told the portal in an interview that while no final decision had been made on how the building would be used, based on its location and other aspects, it should be a hotel or an office complex – with stores – or a combination thereof. He added that the company would prefer to open a hotel.
Plans for using the building will be worked out considering its historical past. The aim is creating a building with a function that meets today’s demands, while preserving the building’s original beauty, Gerő said.
WING Zrt could buy the palace after offering more than the minimum price of Ft 4 billion (roughly €17.3 million) specified in the tender. As part of the deal, telecoms leader Magyar Telekom retained rights to use a large part of the building.
WING Zrt’s earlier projects include Máriássy Ház, an office building in Budapest’s District XI created from a market hall, the Millenáris Ház residential building at Millenáris Park and Eger’s Agria Park mall, established in a former tobacco factory.