Panattoni raises the tempo

The centre, which is being developed by Panattoni Europe, will eventually comprise 600,000 sqm. “As a result, Łódź is returning to its industrial roots, with a network of innovative manufacturing and warehousing facilities,” says Marek Dobrzycki, the managing director of Panattoni Europe. The developer claims the centre to be the largest logistics complex in Europe. Panattoni is also to build Panattoni Park TriCity North, its first logistics centre in the Gdynia area. The 45,000 sqm project will be built near the Baltic Container Terminal and the Tricity bypass. Construction work is scheduled to begin in June, and the first tenants will be able to move in in early 2020. The centre is to be BREEAM certified. The developer has also started the construction of Panattoni Park Warsaw South Janki distribution centre with an area of 70,500 sqm and Rohlig Suus Logistics has already leased 48,500 sqm including 36,000 sqm of high-bay warehousing space, a 10,000 sqm cross docking centre and 2,500 sqm of office space. The park, which is to comprise two buildings of 55,000 sqm and 20,000 sqm, is also to include a number of small business units with a minimum size of 900 sqm. The centre is scheduled for Q4 2019 and is being built next to the Janki junction of the S8 expressway. Panattoni Europe currently has 127,500 sqm of space under development in and around Warsaw.

Strong in Silesia

Panattoni Europe has additionally started construction work on the S5 Wrocław North Gate centre in the village of Psiary, with a planned area of 62,000 sqm in two buildings. Logistics company Gefco Poland has leased over 32,500 sqm including 400 sqm of office space and is scheduled to move in in September. The project is to be certified under BREEAM In-Use. The developer is also starting the construction of the Panattoni Park Silesia South logistics complex in Bieruń, 7 km south east of Tychy, a city in the south of Poland. The first stage of the 73,000 sqm park is to comprise 35,000 sqm with the construction work to be completed by the end in October. The first tenant of the complex is Havi Logistics, which has signed a ten-year lease for 13,000 sqm including cold storage facilities. “By building a logistics park in Bieruń, we will be a part of the rapid development of the region, and with its bus connection from Tychy and its 275 parking spaces this location is also attractive from the point of view of its potential employees,” stated Marek Dobrzycki. The park is 5 km from the A1 motorway, which runs from the Baltic to Poland’s southern border, and 2 km from the national road DK44, which runs to Kraków. Also in Silesia two companies, including JRR Investments and Sidus Investments, are planning to build a logistics centre together with Panattoni (represented by its subsidiary PG Europe). The companies have applied to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for approval to set up a joint venture. JRR Investments has a number of investments in Poland and is involved in financing and real estate, while Sidus is an investor in Polish real estate.

Also active in the Czech Republic

Panattoni Europe is to construct a BTS production hall within Panattoni Park Plzeň near Nýřany in the Plzeň region. The factory building is to be occupied by two tenants. Groupe Plastivaloire will take up 9,000 sqm, while 7,000 sqm is to be occupied by Filtration Group. Plastivaloire will manufacture oil pans for car gearboxes and Filtration will then add filters to these pans. “Transactions like this are very rare. We managed to find a joint solution for both the manufacturer and its supplier. Working together under one roof completely eliminates any logistics between two plants, saving a lot of time, energy and emissions. Compared to a more usual situation, where the two businesses are divided by a distance of, for example, 10 km, it saves 10,000 km annually on freight transport alone,” claims Pavel Sovička, Panattoni Europe’s Managing Director for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Additionally, Panattoni has been granted a permit to begin demolition work on the site of the Kavalier glassworks in Hostomice near Teplice, which it intends to redevelop into the Panattoni Teplice South industrial park with 32,000 sqm gla in an investment of around CZK 0.5 bln [app. EUR 19 mln]. Completion is scheduled before the end of the year. “The Kavalier glassworks was one of the many traditional industrial plants that went out of business ten years ago as a result of the economic crisis. At the time, virtually none of these abandoned factories could be repurposed, so they’ve gradually turned into brownfield sites. Now we want to give the Hostomice site new life so that its story can continue. This is great news, because it means that ten years after the crisis we can now start dealing with the long-term consequences,” said Pavel Sovička, the managing director of Panattoni Europe for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.