Close to the part of Kertész Street facing Wesselényi Street, next to the beautiful building of the former Israelite civic school, built in 1896 according to the plans of Vilmos Freund, a large vacant lot has been left since 2006. More specifically, two, because although the area falls under one topographical number, it was originally two separate plots, 21 and 23.

There is currently a parking lot on the double plot under 21-23 Kertész Street (Photo: Péter Bukovszki/pestbuda.hu)

However, according to news that has come to light these days, the area may soon be built on. According to the plans of Puhl and Dajka Architect's Office, which also signed the renovation of the southern Klotild Palace, the construction of the Tribe Hotel is expected to start already this autumn in cooperation with a Central European real estate developer and a French hotel group. The building permit was already issued on 30 December last year, based on which the 254-room, 7-storey building (plus a ground floor and a basement level) will stand on the large, 2,251-square-metres double plot. According to the permit, the hotel, which will be built from 55 million EUR, or almost 19.4 billion HUF, will also have 6 elevators.

According to the investor's design renders, the Tribe Hotel will look like this on Kertész Street (Source: Futureal)

Although there is still a parking lot in operation on the plot, investors promised in a statement issued the other day that construction will begin later this year and is expected to be completed in 2023.

Plots 21 and 23 on Kertész Street have been undeveloped since 2006 when the two houses on them were demolished at about the same time with the adjacent building No. 25. A seven-storey, 88-apartment condominium has been built on the site of the latter a few years ago, but the other two plots have remained undeveloped so far. 

The one-storey house at number 21 was built according to the plans of Antal Dörschug around 1869 and was later remodelled several times, but comparing the original plans with later photos, it can be said that its facade has retained its original appearance until it was demolished. Its neighbour, a two-storey historic building at number 23, was built later, in the late 1880s, and blended nicely into the street scene until it was demolished. 

Original plans of the house of the contemporary Gärtner Gasse, now 21 Kertész Street with a cellar designed under the house (Source: Budapest Archives)

The former one-storey building at 21 Kertész Street, demolished in 2006 (Source: mierzsebetvarosunk.blog.hu)    

The historicist-style building at 23 Kertész Street was built in the late 1880s, and it was demolished in 2006 (Source: mierzsebetvarosunk.blog.hu)  

The adjacent buildings numbered 21-23-25 were sold in 2004 by the then management of the 7th District during the case known as the Erzsébetváros real estate panama, but in the end, nothing of the planned investments was built, only a condominium on plot number 25 - much later. Plots 21-23, on the other hand, have not been able to be built-in the last 15 years, although several plans have come to light over the years. However, the current investment seems to really eliminate the biggest vacant lot on Kertész Street, and the parking lot will be taken over by a hotel. 

According to a 2018 plan on the website of the Puhl and Dajka Architect's Office, which is planning the new building, the 120-apartment condominium dreamed up in the area would look like this. The picture clearly shows the characteristic facade of the school building adjacent to the area - standing on the corner of Kertész and Wesselényi Streets (Source: puhlarchitect.hu)

Cover photo: The area under 21-23 Kertész Street looks like this at the moment. The new building with a balcony on the left is a condominium built a few years ago on plot 25 (Photo: Péter Bukovszki/pestbuda.hu)