Panattoni breaks ground for Tesco

Panattoni Europe, the leading industrial space developer in Poland has broken ground under the largest investment on the Polish industrial real estate market - the construction of 57 000 m² of warehouse space for the Tesco hypermarket chain in close vicinity to the Gliwice - Sośnica node. 

The celebration took place on June 29, 2010 on the investment site, nearby the junction of the A1 and A4 highway in Gliwice. The following people took part in the inauguration: the President of Gliwice - Zygmunt Frankiewicz, the Silesian Voivode - Adam Matusiewicz, the developer - Panattoni Europe, represented by Robert Dobrzycki - CEE Managing Partner, Czesław Grzesiak - Vice President of Tesco Polska together with Tomas Kubza, Warehouse Operations Manager and Tadeusz Wesołowski - President of Radan, former owner of the land under investment and the local partner of Panattoni. 

The erection act, signed both by the highest city officials as well as the developer and investor, was consecrated and cemented by Prelate Bernard Koj, the Chancellor of the Diocese in Gliwice. 

Robert Dobrzycki, CEE Managing Partner stated that: " Today's celebrations are exceptional, not only because of the investment, but also its significance for the city authorities and the media", and added: "Thanks to the intense cooperation with all city entities, works are going according to schedule. The investment will be delivered as planned, i.e. in 2010." 

"Tesco has its shops not only in Poland, but also in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Today Europe is borderless. We have a chance to develop better and more efficient cooperation, while individual countries compete over the best investments" - said Czesław Grzesiak, Vice President of Tesco Polska. " The same can be said about this investment. The warehouse in Gliwice, after additional investments, and obtaining public support, can become a distribution node not only for southern Poland, but across the whole of Central Europe. Gliwice might have a pan-European warehouse". 

The investment executed by Panattoni Europe is the largest investment on the industrial real estate market. It encompasses the construction of build-to-suit (BTS) facilities, dedicated for the industry leader - British Tesco hypermarket chain. The investment comprises: 57 000 m² of warehouse space, of which 13,800 m² is cooling space, 440 parking places, 80 parking places for trailers and 36 places for trucks. It also has its own gas station and a garage with a washing station for trailers, 3 offices constituting the external parts of the building, 15% glass roofing and the capacity to employ 300 people for each three 8-hour shift. 

Not only will the Tesco distribution center stand in the center of the Silesian agglomeration, but also in the logistics heart of Europe. The facility is located nearby the Gliwice-Sośnica node, which joins two trans-European networks. The node will accommodate four-direction international traffic (north, south, east, west) and six-direction national traffic (additionally north-western and south-eastern). At the moment the node enables access to Berlin, Dresden, Lvov, Prague and Vienna. In the future it will be possible to travel also to Helsinki and Stockholm.