The premises in Panattoni Park Ostrov North have been taken over by a new tenant, CONEC Elektronische Bauelemente GmbH, a sister company of Amphenol Tuchel Industrial. Amphenol has been operating in Ostrov for almost 30 years and this year found new production space in Ostrov. The entire building covers 20,000 square metres and, in addition to Amphenol and CONEC, one quarter of it is also used by the Kokiska online shop. The construction of the hall with many sustainable elements on the former brownfield site of Škoda Ostrov was secured by the development company Panattoni. The project is financed by Accolade Group.
CONEC develops, manufactures and sells high-quality connectors, cables and enclosure technologies. CONEC’s connectivity solutions are used in automation, telecommunications and energy technology, mechanical engineering, agriculture, medical technology, transportation and aerospace. The new hall will house a diverse range of production – from components for medical technology to agricultural machinery and equipment or photovoltaic systems to battery storage and heat pumps. The Amphenol Group is a major employer in Ostrov. Currently, 300 people work here, mostly from Ostrov. The expansion of production and the development centre will create up to 50 new jobs at the new facility, including for highly qualified professionals.
“We have relocated the forwarding department to Ostrov in order to better meet the needs of our growing number of customers. The island is located in the heart of Europe and in close proximity to our customers, which shortens delivery times and enables more efficient logistics,” says Sven Holtgrewe, CEO of CONEC.
With this move, CONEC strengthens its position as a reliable partner for customers in the connector industry and remains committed to providing innovative solutions and excellent customer service.
“I am very pleased with the completion of the first building at Panattoni Park Ostrov and its full occupancy by tenants with long-term operations in the Karlovy Vary region. We are fulfilling our promise to return industry and life to long-dead brownfield sites and bring new jobs to the region. We are already constructing a second building on the site, which will target an Excellent rating in the international BREEAM New Construction environmental certification,” says Klára Sobotková, Regional Development Director, Panattoni.
Panattoni Park Ostrov North was created by revitalising the site of the Škoda Ostrov plant, one of the largest brownfield sites in the Czech Republic. During the remediation process, 12,700 tonnes of hazardous waste were separated for environmental disposal on site, depending on the type of contamination. During the revitalisation of the Ostrov site, Panattoni managed to sort and recycle a record 98.7% of the demolition waste, which did not have to be taken to landfill. The developer reused 103,000 tonnes of recyclate in the construction of the industrial zone, replacing primary natural raw materials. This saved approximately 10,300 lorries from travelling off-site.
An investment of CZK 5 million also went towards the construction of a cycle path around the industrial park. The building materials used and the implementation of the latest technologies ensure that the buildings on the site aspire to one of the highest sustainability certification awards under BREEAM New Construction, namely the Excellent level. Construction of a second hall is currently underway at the industrial park.
“We are pleased to see the continued growth of companies in the manufacturing sector in the industrial property segment, which we have seen strongly in our portfolio this year. At the same time, we are pleased that the space in the first building of Ostrov North Park has been filled by companies that have been among the very well-established employers in the Ostrov region for a long time. A great advantage of the location is the excellent transport links, especially to neighbouring Germany. Moreover, the brownfield project automatically benefits from the existing infrastructure, so there is no need to spend money on building new infrastructure and thus create additional environmental burden,” says Milan Kratina, CEO of Accolade.
The original Skoda plant on the island was built in the late 1950s and has been producing trolleybuses since 1960, up to 350 cars a year. After 1989, an independent company Škoda Ostrov was established there, owned by Škoda Plzeň. However, the company gradually shifted the production centre to Plzeň and closed its operations in Ostrov in 2004.
