Developers inaugurated none of the planned 93,000 square metres of retail space in Budapest in the first half of the year as consumer demand fell, an analysis by GVA Robertson sent to MTI shows.
Five big shopping centres are under construction in the capital — Allee, in Buda, at the site of the former Skala; Corvin Atrium, in an area of District VIII under rehabilitation; Mundo, on Bosnyak ter in District XIV; Terminal, at the end-station of the No 3 underground line; and Neo at the Hatar ut underground station — but only Allee will open this year, before the start of the holiday shopping season.
Developers planned to inaugurate 97,000 square metres of retail space outside of the capital in the first half of the year. Ribbons were cut for just 19,000 square metres of store space.
Rental fees at high-traffic shopping centres in Budapest are EUR 80-100 per square metre per month. (Top-category office space in the capital goes for EUR 13-15 per square metre per month.)
Rents in other cities in the country are just a fraction of those in the capital: between EUR 9 and 14 per square metre per month.