Hungarian construction sector output grew by an annual 10.5 percent in March, slowing from an increase of 38.5 percent in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Friday. Meanwhile, Hungarian industrial output grew by an annual 3.6 percent in March, slowing from 4.8 percent in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Friday in a second reading of the data.
Building segment output rose by 10.6 percent, while civil engineering output was up 11.4 percent. Overall, construction sector output was worth 521.8 billion forints (EUR 1.36bn) in March, with the building segment making up 68 percent of the total.
Hungarian industrial output grew by an annual 3.6 percent in March, slowing from 4.8 percent in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Friday in a second reading of the data. Adjusted for the number of working days, output grew by 4.2 percent. Month on month, output eased by 0.1 percent, based on seasonally and working day-adjusted data.
In January-March, industrial output increased by 5.5 percent from the same period a year earlier.
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Output of automotive companies dropped by an annual 13.3 percent in March. The segment, which accounted for 22 percent of manufacturing sector output in March, continued to be challenged by the semiconductor shortage and supply chain problems, KSH said.
The detailed data show
output of the computer, electronics and optical equipment segment, accounting for 11 percent of manufacturing, increased by an annual 6.3 percent.
Output of the food, drinks and tobacco segment, which also made of 11 percent of manufacturing sector output, rose by 10.2 percent.
The unitarian church was built between 1360 and 1380 in Nagyajta, Szeklerland, Transylvania, Romania. The European Union supported the church’s complete renovation with EUR 1.1 million. The Hungarian government complemented that sum with EUR 443 thousand. Below, you can see the result in photos.
Local priest Levente Fekete and unitarian bishop István Kovács. Photo: MTIThe interior of the church. Photo: MTIThe mayor of Nagyajta, Edömér Bihari. Photo: MTI
The number of home building permits issued in Hungary rose by an annual 15.2 percent to 8,001 in the first quarter, data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Thursday show.
The number of permits issued for homes in the capital jumped 174.4 percent to 2,077, while the number issued for homes in county seats and cities with populations over 50,000 fell by 27.5 percent to 1,248 and the number issued in smaller cities edged down by 2.2 percent to 2,579. In the country’s smallest settlements, the number of home building permits issued increased by 14.5 percent to 2,097.
Hungary’s government rolled out a two-year reduction in the home construction VAT rate to 5 percent from 27 percent from the start of 2021 as part of measures to aid the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
The number of home completions fell by 26.4 percent to 4,528, showing the impact of a sector wind-down after an earlier, three-year preferential home construction VAT rate cut ended in 2019.
Detached homes accounted for 32 percent of completions in Q1. Homes in multi-storey buildings with multiple dwellings made up 53 percent of the total and homes in residential parks 13 percent.
The average new home size was just over 81sqm.
The share of homes built by businesses stood at 74 percent.
The data show 367 homes were demolished or condemned in 2021.
Dániel Molnár, an analyst with economic researcher Századvég, said housing sentiment remains strong, reflected in the high number of building permit issues. He noted, however, that producer prices in the construction sector are rising, making home building more expensive and labour shortages are an ongoing challenge for the sector.
Magyar Bankholding chief analyst Gergely Suppán said that since 2016 nearly 202,000 building permits have been issued, but only close to 116,000 homes have been completed, showing a backlog of 86,000 and pointing to serious delays. He said home constructions continue to lag behind pre-crisis levels, international rates and the rate needed for the renewal of domestic housing stock.
Over the past decade, the Castle District has undergone a major transformation within the framework of the National Hauszmann Program. In addition to the restored Castle Garden Bazaar, the completed Royal Riding Hall, the Main Guardhouse and the Stöckl Staircase, visitors will soon be able to enjoy the renewed look of several other attractions as well.
Ministry of Finance
The Castle District was severely damaged during World War II, including the building of the Ministry of Finance. The originally neo-Gothic palace was first converted into a conventional building in 1962. It was used as an office building for many years, until 2018, when the restoration of the pre-war style began. According to Pestbuda, the partial framing of the larger courtyard of the Ministry of Finance, built based on the design of Sándor Fellner between 1901 and 1904, will preserve the inner courtyard atrium while the office space will be significantly increased. The newly enclosed courtyard will also house the engine room, parking, bicycle storage and the archives. The new building will replicate Sándor Fellner’s side corridor system, but here offices will face the inner atrium, while corridors will face outwards onto the courtyard façades of the old office wings.
Photo: www.facebook.com/nemzetihauszmannprogram/
The completed building is planned to be handed over by the end of 2023, after which the Ministry of Finance will move back in. The reconstruction will also include the restoration of the ornate gate on Parliament Street.
Headquarters of the Hungarian Defence Forces
In World War II, the Crown Guard engaged in a firefight with an invading SS unit in the basement of the building. During the fight, the building’s roof structure was significantly damaged. Although the damage was not irreversible, due to ideological reasons the Communist regime that took over in 1947 declared it a ruin and instead of restoring it they gradually let it be demolished to the height of the first floor. Since then, the building has stood as a war memorial and only a partial renovation was carried out between 2012 and 2014.
Photo: www.facebook.com/nemzetihauszmannprogram/
As part of the National Hauszmann Program, reconstruction work began in 2021, during which the building of the Headquarters of the Hungarian Defence Forces will be rebuilt to reach its original height. The functional area of the building will be tripled – reported Pestbuda.
In the future, the former Headquarters of the Hungarian Defence Forces will serve as a visitor centre with exhibitions, community space and gastronomic functions.
Archduke Joseph’s Palace
The former building was located on the western side of Szent György Square, opposite the Sándor Palace. In 1968, it was blown up, after which the empty square was often used as a rubbish dump and became a disgrace of Budapest’s World Heritage Site.
Photo: ter6.hu
The reconstruction work started last year. The walls of the building can already be seen erected from the ground. Along with the residence, the Neo-Renaissance stables and the palace enclosure will also be restored, all of which will be open to the public. Once completed, the garden will provide access to the Jewish baths below.
On the site of the former Red Cross Headquarters, all that remained was a brick fence and a shabby seasonal market hall. However, the building’s reconstruction is well underway. In April, the highest point of the building has been reached. As the Hungarian news portal Növekedés reports, the works will also include the partial historic renovation of the adjacent Batthyány Palace.
Photo: www.facebook.com/nemzetihauszmannprogram/
Ornate fountains
The ornate fountains of the Buda Castle District are splashing again – writes the National Hauszmann Program’s Facebook post. In recent years,
the two popular ornate fountains – the Mátyás Fountain and the Fountain of the Fishing Children – have been completely renovated in the Palace Quarter.
As a result of the restoration, the statues have been repaired, the fountain’s machinery has been renewed and the structure’s drainage problem has been resolved.
Photo: www.facebook.com/nemzetihauszmannprogram/
At the Fountain of the Fishing Children, which was non-functional for many years until its recent renovation at the end of last year, not only the statues and the fountain’s basin but also the surrounding area have been restored, so that visitors can once again admire the statues as they were originally designed by Alajos Hauszmann.
Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics on Tuesday attended a ceremony marking the completion of the main structure of a new library and students’ center for the Budapest Business School (BBS) complex.
In his address, the minister said BBS was “a beneficiary of Hungary’s higher education reform” as one of 21 universities transferred to foundations in the past two years. A new management model for these universities means “not only simpler operations but a different financing model”, he said, adding that funding for BBS had quadrupled under the new system.
Thanks to developments in recent years, more and more Hungarian universities have been ranked among the top 1,000 universities of the world, Palkovics said.
Spending on higher education in 2022 will amount to 2 percent of Hungarian GDP. Meanwhile, the amount available for university development projects will total 2,700 billion forints, the minister said.
According to the plan of Lépték-Terv Tájépítész Iroda, the Town Hall Park will be renewed. The decision was made by a jury made up of landscape architects, urban architect members and experts. The winning entry is suitable to be the newest main square in Budapest in all respects. The new capital square could be the venue for many political and cultural events as well. In addition, the new plan takes into account the current transport conditions in the capital.
Make a circle from the rectangle
The winning entry is completely unique, and that is why it is genius. They transformed the available space into a flexible square. The concentrically arranged park-space hybrid is completely different from the monopoly of conventional paving.
The space will play many functions in the life of Budapest.
You will have the opportunity to watch a sport match, do yoga, play, go to cinema, or even hold trade fairs. Thousands of people can go to a music concert here. Varoshazapark.budapest.hu writes that in order to achieve this, an unorthodox method had to be chosen. The central element of the new park is a circle.
The 90-metre diameter circle symbolizes connection and equality.
The circle comes from the coordination of different functions. The first shell of the green circle is a wider lane with benches, seating, and even swings and steam gates. There are also water games and various blinds. The second layer is a wooded, paved public shell.
The second layer will be the venue for the events.
It was also beneficial for the plans that the Lépték-Terv Tájépítészeti Iroda also took into account the vertical shape of the park, they write on their Facebook page. “The facade in the new situation must be adapted to its new function, on the one hand the ground floor must be opened to urban life, the green public space, and on the other hand the facade must reflect the advanced, contemporary approach of the Town Hall.”
A beautiful modern park with lots of green space will be a refreshment for city dwellers and tourists alike.
The other drastic change compared to previous conditions is the opening of the inner courtyards of the Town Hall. During this time, this area will be flooded, which will be complete with an arched doorway. Much of the work is yet to come. The next step is to prepare and obtain permitting and construction plans. After that, construction can begin.
City Hall Park is expected to be completed in 2004.
Hungarian-language education is key to the future of the nation, the state secretary in charge of policies for Hungarian communities abroad said in Martovce (Martos), in southern Slovakia, on Friday.
“Our mother tongue is the source of all of our values and strength,” Árpád János Potápi said at the inauguration of new accommodations at the Esterházy Academy built with support from the Hungarian government. “We trust that the newly-inaugurated buildings will strengthen the appeal of the intellectual hub being created in Martovce.”
Potápi said the Esterházy Academy was part of an institutional system that had been built over the last 12 years, noting that it
offered Hungarian-language education from the pre-school to the university level.
“With the academy, we have opened a gateway to public life for future generations,” Potápi said, adding that a strong presence in public life and a commitment to national values guaranteed that ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia could remain in their homeland.
The operator of the Esterházy Academy, the Marthos Civic Association, received a total of 25 million forints (EUR 67,400) in support from the Hungarian government during the two years of 2020 and 2021, Potápi said.
Several parts and buildings of Budapest’s iconic castle district have been renovated or rebuilt recently. One of the main projects is recreating the Palace of Archduke Joseph, which reached its first milestone last week. Meanwhile, the beautiful former headquarter of the Hungarian Red Cross will also be rebuilt in the Buda Castle, in which case the topping-out ceremony already took place.
Beautiful palace to be built in the Buda Castle
The Magyar Építő Zrt. won the tender of rebuilding the Palace of Archduke Joseph near Buda Castle’s Szent György Square in 2021 July. Last week they finished building the structure of the palace and moved on to carry out the 2nd stage of the project. Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria (1883-1905) bought the classicist Teleki Palace after the headquarters of the Hungarian Defense Forces left it in 1889 – Magyar Építők reported.
He reshaped it following the plans of Flóris Korb and Kálmán Giergl in 1902 in the style of Historicism. During the siege of Budapest, the building was hit by shelling and demolished in 1968.
The new palace will serve touristic, cultural, and office functions.
Photo: PrtScr/YoutubePhoto: PrtScr/Youtube
Furthermore, the public will be able to visit the Archduke’s garden and the Neorenaissance stables. The project started with excavation works, the construction of the concrete mat and the reestablishment of the elevator. In the first item, Magyar Építők Zrt. made the reinforced concrete structure of the building. The next step of the project is creating the interior and the façade. Here is a video about the ongoing works:
The company built the House of Hungarian Music in the City Park, which won the “Oscar of the property industry” in Cannes.
The Headquarters of the Hungarian Red Cross
Meanwhile, the beautiful former headquarters of the Hungarian Red Cross will also be rebuilt in the Buda Castle – Magyar Építők wrote.
The topping-out ceremony took place last week when the building reached its final height.
The project’s contractor is the Confector, while the building’s structure will be built by Bayer Construct Ltd. The latter has already built the stair- and wall segments premanufactured by Viastein Ltd.
The Hungarian Red Cross, aiming to treat war casualties and provide humanitarian aid, bought the building in 1900. Between 1920 and the end of WWII, it housed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The new building follows the style of the original but with added modern interior solutions.
Government Commissioner Gergely Fodor said that it was impressive to see that today’s professionals can recreate the wonders of Alajos Hauszmann and his colleagues.
Output of Hungary’s industrial sector rose by an annual 4.5 percent in February, around half the pace in January, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a detailed reading of data on Wednesday. Output of Hungary’s construction sector rose by an annual 42.3 percent in February, the highest pace in almost three years, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Wednesday.
The automotive segment, which accounted for 25 percent of the manufacturing sector in February, slipped by an annual 0.8 percent as production shutdowns and scale-backs because of the global semiconductor shortage recently hit the sector. The output of the computer, electronics and optical equipment segment, accounting for 11 percent of manufacturing, increased by an annual 2.0 percent in February.
Output of the food, drinks and tobacco segment, which made up another 11 percent of manufacturing sector output, climbed 10.0 percent. Adjusted for the number of workdays, headline output rose by 4.5 percent.
Output of Hungary’s construction sector rose by an annual 42.3 percent in February, the highest pace in almost three years, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Wednesday. Output of the building segment climbed 56.2 percent, while civil engineering output was up by 20.0 percent.
In absolute terms, construction sector output was 397.9 billion forints (EUR 1.1bn) in February.
In a month-on-month comparison, construction sector output was up 13.3 percent, adjusted for seasonal and workday effects. Order stock in the construction sector was 19.2 percent higher at the end of February than twelve months earlier. Buildings segment orders were up by 15.6 percent and civil engineering orders rose by 21.7 percent. New orders jumped by 92.7 percent during the period, as new orders in the buildings segment climbed 65.3 percent and new civil engineering orders were up by 128.2 percent.
Takarékbank chief analyst András Horváth said state subsidies for home purchases and renovation may be a driver behind the strong demand at present. He added that general contractors’ projections early in the year for annual price increases of around 10 percent have been bumped up as high as 25 percent or more.
Metro line M3 is the longest underground in Budapest, and it transports the most passengers out of all the metro lines in the Hungarian capital. Since it is also one of the oldest, back in 2017, Budapest started the modernisation of the entire line and all stations. However, due to several unforeseen complications, the expected date of finishing the project will be postponed further.
Previous plans
According to Világgazdaság, the revamp of metro line M3 started in 2017 and would be implemented in three sections; the northern part of the underground was completed in 2019 and renovation works of the southern stations were finished by October 2020. The modernisation of the middle section in the city centre started in November 2020 and was expected to be fully completed in the first quarter of 2023.
We have previously reported that three stations will be handed over and available to use by passengers this May. These stations are the following: Kálvin Square, Corvin District and Semmelweis Clinics Stations.
Infostartreports that the construction company that performs the revamp told the Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK) that the workflow might be severely disrupted due to a number of outside circumstances. In addition to the probability of postponing the final handover date, the cost of the revamp might also increase significantly.
One of the main reasons is the war between Ukraine and Russia. Swietelsky, the construction company told Világgazdaságthat since the onset of the military conflict there has been a shortage of workers and difficulties have popped up in shipping and manufacturing of building materials, such as steel, for example.
Adding insult to injury, the amendment of the fuel cap that the Hungarian Government has implemented, meaning the limit on the amount of purchasable fuel, has also caused some issues. According to the construction company, this has made it problematic to transport the workforce to the location of the job site.
Moreover, since some of the machinery and resources that are necessary for the revamp of the middle section of the M3 metro line is shipped from China through Russia and Ukraine the project is further delayed as reorganising the procurement of said machinery would be laborious and costly.
The Ukraine-Russia conflict has affected the modernisation of Budapest’s M3 metro line not only directly but indirectly as well. Since the war, the economic situation of the world has become tense and, among other things, the speeches of Ukraine’s Prime Minister have also contributed to the worsening of the Hungarian forint as a currency (due to the shifting public opinion about the country).
This decrease in the forint’s international purchasing power and the general increase of energy sources and raw materials will push up the expenses of the project, which might also cause further delays to secure proper funding.
All in all, it is unknown how long the deadline will be extended, but according to Világgazdaság, BKK asked the construction company to try and mitigate these difficulties within their own scope of actions and provide further evidence on the aforementioned problems.
While BKK’s answer was diplomatic in lack of exact numbers, the contract included assets that could be used to finish the project under increased prices.
Hungarian media reported yesterday that Russia’s Rosatom would not build the two new reactors of the Paks nuclear plant. The Russian firm already wrote that in a letter addressed to the Hungarian government. The company officially denied all such allegations. They added that the payment of the relevant Russian loan would be in Russia, so sanctions did not affect it.
12.5 billion EUR for two new reactors
According to 24.hu, CEO Alexey Likhachev already wrote to the Hungarian government that they would not build the new reactors because of vis major. The unofficial explanation is that Russia would not like to invest in the EU because all such businesses might fall prey to sanctions. As we reported earlier, the extension of Paks costs 12.5 billion EUR. The Hungarian government planned to pay 10 billion of that from a Russian loan. The deadline for the payback would be 2046.
24.hu asked János Süli, the government commissioner responsible for the planning, construction and commissioning of the two new reactors at Paks Nuclear Power Plant, about Rosatom’s letter. However, he refused to reply. Meanwhile, Rosatom Central Europe Ltd answered immediately: the extension continues according to the plans. They added that the Russian Rosatom would fulfill its contractual obligations, including the project’s financing.
Rosatom Central Europe Ltd also cleared that even though Russia is out of the SWIFT international payment system, that is not a problem because all payments in the project are made in Russian territory.
However, the bankruptcy of the Russian Sberbank might cause problems. The general contractor of the Paks nuclear power plant extension project is the Russian Atomstroyexport. It has a Hungarian subsidiary named ASE AO. However, the latter’s money was in the Sberbank, where 188 billion HUF of more than 1,000 firms “burned” thanks to the bank’s failure. ASE did not tell 24.hu how much money they lost. However, they spent 19 bn HUF in 2020 and 65 bn in 2019, and they had an account only in the Sberbank. Thus, their damage might reach billions of HUF (millions of EUR).
However, there is no information on whether the Paks project will suffer delay because of the Sberbank. But one of the subcontractors has already laid off some workers while other employees complained about late payments – rtl.hu reported last week. Rosatom Central Europe Ltd highlighted they would fulfill their financial obligations on time. 24.hu writes that the subcontractor might be ROIN World S.L.U., a company receiving its assignments from the Russian Atomstroyexport and working on nuclear power plant projects in Bangladesh and Turkey. The company has a Hungarian subsidiary.
To sum up, Rosatom says there are no problems with the project. PM Viktor Orbán said earlier this month that Paks II would be built, and they would not modify the schedule. Meanwhile, Finland said they would cancel a similar project with Rosatom because its employees helped the Russian army seize the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. Helsinki regards that as a violation of international law.
In the relevant contract between Russia and Hungary, there is no clarification on how a party can terminate it. However, experts say if the two states do not agree on the annual usable loan sum, the contract might end anyway. Moreover, Hungary has already prepaid all the money Russia lent. As a result, if the project ended, Budapest would have to pay nothing back.
The government has allocated 57.5 billion forints (EUR 160m) to set up three science and innovation parks to be run by the University of Óbuda, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said on Friday.
Varga said work on the last of the three parks would start in Zsámbék, on the outskirts of the capital, within a month. The park there will focus on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, medical technology and robotics, he added.
The University of Óbuda is also setting up a mechatronics park in Székesfehérvár, in north-western Hungary, and a smart industry and defence sector park in Kaposvár, in the south-west.
The renovation of the most popular Budapest metro line, the M3, is to reach a new cornerstone by May. The capital’s public transport company, BKV Zrt, announced that they would open three renewed underground stations by the end of spring.
Magyar Építők, a Hungarian construction news outlet regularly reports about the revamp of Budapest’s most used underground line, the M3. More people use this underground on a workday than the entire Hungarian railway system. Therefore, the BKV Zrt renews it segment by segment to avoid public transport chaos.
The SWIETELSKY Építő Kft. takes care of the last, third segment of the work between the Lehel and Nagyvárad Squares, while another company of this group, the Swietelsky Vasúttechnika Kft., is responsible for the renovation of the railway lines and the relevant technology.
The BKV Zrt. announced on the project’s official website that they were about to finish the work at the Kálvin Square, Corvin District and Semmelweis Clinics Stations soon. All of the three renewed metro stations have been equipped with so-called sloping lifts to help the disabled to use the underground. Three more stations will have such services: Ferenciek Square, Arany János Street and Nyugati Railway Station.
It will be the first time in Hungary that passengers can use this service. The sloping elevators will run in the escalator shaft, right next to the stairs, Zoltán Kurucz, the designer said. He highlighted that the elevator would accommodate eight people or a wheelchaired person and his attendant at a time. Furthermore, it would move at the same speed as the escalator.
According to the designer, the operation of the sloping track elevator is “almost 100 percent identical” to that of the Budavár cable car. To this day, only Stockholm and New York have such slopes in the metro. Interestingly, Swedish, Greek and French experts are also participating in the construction of the new Budapest metro stations, added Zoltán Kurucz – pestubuda.hu reported before.
The three M3 stations are nearly completed but operational tests are still taking place. For example, constructors test the new smoke and heat extraction systems.
During the smoke tests, they try to model a possible fire emergency. They aim to create a system guaranteeing passengers to reach the exits before they start suffocating due to the smoke.
Authorities have already approved the system at the Semmelweis Clinics and Corvin Stations. Magyar Épitők says that they would soon test the Kálvin Square Station, as well.
Hungary’s leading developer is expanding its portfolio in Costa del Sol, Spain and opens up sales for Hungarian, Romanian, British and soon for Polish markets. Cordia expanded its portfolio with a new luxury residential project and a new location in the popular holiday destination of Fuengirola, Spain, and announces purchase option for Hungarian, Romanian, British and Polish buyers.
Cordia, Hungary’s leading residential property developer and member of Futureal Group, one of the largest property developer and investor groups in the Central and Eastern European region has launched in four foreign countries – Hungary, Romania, the United Kingdom and soon also in Poland – the sale of Jade Tower, its first luxury residential real estate project in Spain.
This means that customers from these countries can choose and purchase the most suitable properties with a Spanish sea view in the popular holiday destination of Fuengirola, comfortably and easily directly from and with the help of Cordia’s local sales teams.
Costa del Sol has been a favourite international destination for many decades, due to its 320 days of sunshine and an average temperature of 23° degree.
Next to the exceptional climate, easy accessibility is also a big advantage of the area. Thousands of tourists arrive every day on cruise ships to the Port of Malaga, and millions to Pablo Picasso International Airport from all over the world. Fuengirola is a 20-minute drive from the airport and high-speed train connection is available too, which arrives to the city centre, only 8-minute walk away from Jade Tower.
Cordia’s luxury residential project in Fuengirola is being built on one of the last few free plots of the city’s coastal strip, only 100 meters from the Mediterranean Sea.
The complex will consist 116 high-end 1-, 2- or 3-bedroom apartments and penthouses with large terraces or private gardens, and uniquely all apartment will have its own storage and garage place.
“With Jade Tower we are happy to be able to open up an outstanding investment opportunity for Hungarian, Romanian, British and very soon also for Polish investors. This is a huge achievement for us and great chance for sophisticated customers as apartments of Jade Tower provide long-term value and comfortable, secure rental yields that exceed market averages” says Tibor Földi, Chairman of Board, Cordia International.
Jade Tower offers a unique lifestyle and luxurious living in Fuengirola: a selection of modern and smartly designed apartments beautifully integrated within the surroundings using the highest quality materials and appliances.
In line with the concept of luxurious living, Jade Tower will also give access to an array of first-class services and facilities: residents can use the exclusive health club which includes a full spa, gym, indoor and outdoor pools.
This is also the first project in the city that has coworking spaces from where resident can operate their business, they can entertain guests and family at the Gastro Bar, or even enjoy the comfort of having their own movie theatre by using the Cinema Room: in an acoustically isolated room, with a large screen, surround sound and large seats.
The residential complex is also a sustainable, highly energy efficient building that will be constructed under the international seal BREEAM, the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for masterplanning projects, infrastructure and buildings. Its contemporary design is a pioneer in the use of the BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology that guarantees, among others, to optimize the costs of conservation and future maintenance of the building. Moreover, as a commitment to innovation and technology, the residential complex will have its own smartphone app, that allows residents to use all the services offered by Jade Tower.
A simple path to homeownership is created by PaydayPot, a user-friendly technology and professional advice for your instant loan queries. They are gearing up to assist you in realising all of your dreams, including owning your home, as the future develops.
The renovation of the first mall of Hungary is currently underway, and although it was originally planned to be inaugurated this spring, due to some circumstances, the historic building will only be open to the public next year.
The history of the building goes back almost a century since it was inaugurated on March 1st, 1926, founded by the company German M. J. Emden und Söhne from Hamburg.
The cinema
Before the mall opened, there was a cinema at the lot, called the Apolló mozi, which was the first permanent cinema in Hungary built for screening movies, Indexwrites.
The Oscar-winning creator of Casablanca, Micheal Curtiz (born as Mihály Kertész), produced his first feature films within its walls, the site added.
The Corvin Áruház (mall) in 1961 with the original facade.
Source: Fortepan / Budapest Archive. Reference: HU_BFL_XV_19_c_11
The mall
Construction began in 1924, and the building was designed with care and attention to detail, adorned with several statues, reliefs, and carved details all throughout the building, as well as with beautiful lamps.
After opening, the mall became very popular and was the staple of Budapest fashion. It not only attracted customers from Budapest and its surrounding areas, but people even went shopping there from abroad.
Apart from selling fashion pieces, lingerie, shoes, and hats, people could visit a railway ticket office, a household goods store, a carpet store, as well as a photography studio, a café, and a restaurant.
Clothes were fitted to customers by 60 seamstresses, and free brochures were sent out by post so that people could see the available products and, if needed, people could order tailoring to their own homes.
Customers were amazed when the country’s first escalator was installed in 1931.
However, history left its mark on the building, and conflicts and revolutions left it damaged, and the original façade was hidden behind metal sheets. However, the renovation, which aims to restore the old glory of the place, is underway.
The Corvin Áruház (mall) in 1969 with the ugly steel mask covering the original facade.
Source: Fortepan / Szepesfalvy Gábor
According to Infostart, when the construction work demolished the walls, they found out that there was a tunnel behind the meat counter leading east under Somogyi Béla Street. The tunnel, although walled in, led to the former Sajtóház (press house).
It is suspected that this tunnel was constructed in 1951 and was used to carry large sheets of paper which weighed hundreds of kilograms via forklifts moving on a railway system from the deposit of Szikra Press.
During the demolishing of the former Sajtóház (press house), the owner had ordered the tunnel to be walled in.
The other tunnel was discovered on the south-western corner of the mall. It is a tunnel with a sloping floor ending in the basement of an apartment house nearby.
Olivér Balogh, the head of the company renovating Corvin Áruház, believes that it might have been built during the construction of the mall itself and allowed guest workers to easily enter the construction. However, some people disagree with this theory, and the truth is still unknown.
Infostart also writes that while Corvin Áruház might mainly function as an office building, a section of the building will be made into a mall, with a Spar store, cafés, a fitness centre, and several store units to populate the area.
With a higher quality of services (previously a ruin pub), the upstairs terrace will also be open to the public, with the new addition of a sky bar-like bistro. The mall will open in the spring of 2023.
The House of Hungarian Music, a showcase of local music history, education and talent recently inaugurated in Budapest’s City Park, has won the Special Jury Award at this year’s MIPIM international property market fair in Cannes.
László Baán, the government commissioner for Liget Budapest, a project that aims to rehabilitate the City Park and transform it into a magnet for locals and visitors, said a Hungarian project was presented the award for the first time in the 30-year history of the MIPIM Awards.
He added that the decision to acknowledge the building, the work of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and constructed in the framework of Liget Budapest, was unanimous.
The international jury of professionals noted the aspects of sustainability, aesthetics and visitor experience in their assessment, Baán said in a statement.
Output growth of Hungary’s construction sector slowed to an annual 3.3 percent in January, decelerating on a decline in the building segment, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Wednesday.
Construction output has grown in the double digits since the spring of 2021, KSH said. Output of the building segment edged down by 0.4 percent, while civil engineering output climbed by 12.9 percent.
In absolute terms, construction sector output reached 291.4 billion forints (EUR 781.7m) in January. The building segment accounted for 65 percent of the total.
Month on month, the output fell by 6.3 percent, adjusted for seasonal and workday effects.
Order stock in the construction sector was 6.3 percent higher at the end of January than twelve months earlier. Buildings segment orders were down by 5.1 percent but civil engineering orders rose by 15.3 percent.
New orders climbed 11.7 percent during the period, as new orders in the buildings segment jumped by 49.7 percent but new civil engineering orders plunged by 39.8 percent.
Takarékbank senior analyst András Horváth said
full-year growth in the sector could climb a little higher than 10 percent,
but said the consequences of the war, supply chain interruptions and the labour market squeeze presented “significant uncertainty”.
Hungary and Slovakia will complete a new bridge across the River Ipoly before the end of next year, linking Őrhalom in Hungary and Vrbovka (Ipolyvarbo) on the Slovak side, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Friday.
The bridge will make the life of local residents easier and contribute to economic development too, the foreign ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new bridge to be built with a budget of 2.3 billion forints using European Union funds, the minister said: “Another chapter is being written about the success story of cooperation between Hungary and Slovakia.”
He said “calm and peace in times of war” were of heightened importance and the two countries had done much in recent years to preserve states. Earlier “serious difficulties hindered good relations, but then a decision was made to build a basis for mutual trust through success stories,” he said, adding that “now bilateral ties are calm and balanced”.
Bilateral trade turnover grew by an annual 27 percent last year, reaching a record-breaking 13 billion euros, Szijjártó said. Slovakia has become Hungary’s second most important trading partner and a crucial investor, with 700 Slovak companies employing over 5,000 people in Hungary, he said.
“Hungarians and Slovaks want to have peace in the region as soon as possible and will do everything to that end,”
he said.
On another subject, the minister said linking the gas and electricity networks of the two countries was pivotal for the security of energy supplies. Hungary and Slovakia are connected by thirty-five road crossings, twelve out of which have been established since 2010, Szijjártó said, noting that six more projects, including three bridge constructions across the River Ipoly, are under way. All the projects are scheduled to be completed before the end of next year, he added.
“We are taking another step towards ensuring that residents benefit from good political ties in their everyday lives,” Szijjártó said.
