Marriott Signs 30-yr Management Deal With Ablon Group

Blaha Center, which is currently under construction, is Ablon's first real estate development in the hotel market and will consist of 235 rooms as well as 5,500 square meters of retail space, and 320 parking places, when it is completed at the end of 2009. The property is a newly built contemporary hotel, situated on Blaha Square, in central Pest, an area that is appreciated by international business visitors and tourists.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be EUR 40 million while net operating income from the project, including income from the hotel, parking and retail space, is expected to reach around EUR 4.5 million per year for the Company.

“With the development of Blaha Center, we have found an opportunity to leverage our expertise and apply it to the hotel market, thereby enhancing our mix of property assets," said Uri Heller, Founder and Chief Executive of Ablon, in a statement.

Ablon Group
Founded in 1993 in Budapest (Hungary), Ablon Group has properties at 27 different locations split into 50 different projects or phases, of which there are 13 completed projects and 22 development projects in Budapest, Prague and Bucharest.

Its portfolio comprises a diversified mix of office, residential, retail, logistics and hotel developments valued at EUR 540.7 million by King Sturge, an independent valuation firm, as at 30 June 2007.

Ablon has to date approximately 119,100 square meters of existing and income generating office and retail assets (at 11 locations) in Budapest and Prague, with a significant development land bank comprising a further 991,900 square meters in the next five years (at 22 locations) in Budapest, Prague and Bucharest. Ablons shares are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker ABL."

Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal