The industrial complex, built by the Panattoni development company, was created on the brownfield site of the coal mines and consists of two modern production halls. The investor of the new sustainable complex is the AEW Europe Group. The investment exceeds EUR 70 million. Both halls meet the strict criteria of the BREEAM New Construction environmental certification and feature a number of sustainable features. Panasonic has taken over the last completed premises and is now fully utilising the entire hall with a floor area of over 25,000 square metres for production and storage.
The investor of the entire Panattoni Park Pilsen West II project is the AEW Europe Group, with whom the developer has already cooperated, for example, on Panattoni Park Prague Airport II or on a project for Amazon in Dobrovíz near Prague.
The first building in Panattoni Park Pilsen West II with a total area of 36,400 sqm is already used by Shape Corp., a leading supplier of safety components for the automotive industry, which has been operating in the Pilsen region since 2011. Shape Corp. is gradually moving here from the Pilsen Borská pole site to expand its production capacity. Panasonic is also moving to Nýřany to increase its capacity, and is also modernising its building at Borské pole.
“Panasonic has been operating in its own building in Pilsen at Borské pole for almost 30 years. Historically, the production of televisions and Blu-ray recorders took place here. However, in 2022 we discontinued this production and focused exclusively on the production of air-to-water heat pumps. In the future, we plan to produce up to one million of these annually. We want to supply the whole of Europe with pumps from Plzeň. The new premises in Panattoni Park Pilsen West II will serve as an external warehouse and will be partly used for assembling control units until we build a new production plant in Pilsen. Finding a suitable facility that will meet our sustainability requirements while allowing us to stay in the same location was crucial for our management,” says Hiroshi Komatsubara, Managing Director of Panasonic Heating & Ventilation Air-Conditioning Czech.
The state-of-the-art halls at Panattoni Park Pilsen West II meet the most stringent requirements under the international BREEAM New Construction environmental certification and aspire to the two highest ratings of Outstanding (Shape Corp.) and Excellent (Panasonic). Photovoltaic panels are installed in the zone and rainwater is used for flushing. There are charging stations for electric cars, covered bike racks and an insect hotel. The facilities for employees in the form of modern canteens or a fitness centre underline everything.
“We are delighted with another completed project in cooperation with investor AEW Europe. At the same time, I am glad that we can build production halls with added value in the region and thus help to fulfill the Pilsen Region Strategy 2022+. The two companies using the park are among the absolute leaders in their field, and the development of new products is also part of the production here,” says Klára Sobotková, Regional Development Director, Panattoni.
“Panattoni’s project in Nýřany meets exactly what we want in the region. A former brownfield has been transformed into a modern industrial park focused on production and development. Moreover, Panasonic and Shape Corp. are very good employers who bring jobs for skilled positions,” adds Pavel Karpíšek, Senator and First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce in the Pilsen Region.
The original brownfield site on which Panattoni Park Pilsen West II stands has a rich industrial history. The Krimich I coal mine was formerly located near the site. It was mined here between 1867 and 1935, when mining was transferred to the newly opened Krimich II mine in Tlučná. The old mine was then used to pump water and supplied water to the town of Nýřany and the settlement of Pankrác. In the 1920s, the Plzeň Škoda factory built a thermal power plant here, which supplied electricity to the Plzeň Škoda factory, the town of Nýřany, as well as the munitions factory and the Ziegler mine. Since 1971, the buildings of the former shaft and power plant were gradually rebuilt into the Likona Nýřany food processing plant, which operated until the 1990s.
Nýřany is located directly at exit 93 of the D5 motorway. It offers excellent transport connections to Germany and the Czech Republic via the D5 motorway and the German A6/A93/A9 motorway network to Nuremberg, Reich and Munich. The village is also connected to the railway network, with a bus stop located right at the site.