Developer and investment company Warimpex, based in Vienna and with offices in Budapest, Prague, St. Petersburg and Warsaw, notched up a 25-percent increase in sales revenue in the first quarter of this year.

"The worst is already over for real estate markets as the paralysis of late 2008 and the first half of 2009 has passed," said Warimpex director Franz Jurkowitsch. "As a result, sales deals with satisfactory prices have again become possible."

In a joint venture with Louvre Hotels, Warimpex is developing the Campanile and Premiere Classe hotel brands. Seven such projects are now underway in Hungary and Poland. Land has been bought and the first building permits have been issued.

In July, Warimpex received a building permit which allows the company to modernize an office building in the southern city of Cracow and convert the historical Le Palais building in Warsaw into office space.