November 14 (SeeNews) - Czech investment group Accolade providing industrial and manufacturing infrastructure for business in Europe, said on Tuesday it has received approval for its first project in Croatia, and it plans further developments at other locations in the south of Europe as part of its expansion abroad.
"The group has now added Croatia to its portfolio, becoming its seventh European territory, with further ambitious plans for southern Europe," it said in a press release, without disclosing the value of the investment.
Accolade has acquired a building permit for its first industrial building north of Zagreb, a project with an area of some 50,000 square metres.
The project is situated in the Donja Bistra region, just north of Zagreb. The advantage of this location is its proximity to a motorway, with excellent access to Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, northern Italy, as well as east to Belgrade in Serbia and through to Istanbul. It is also a notable industrial centre, with a large domestic electric sports car manufacturer, Rimac, located nearby. It is expected that there will be high demand for modern industrial spaces in this region. The industrial park will be suitable for all three key segments – light manufacturing, logistics, and e-commerce.
Besides Zagreb, other significant Croatian locations include the port of Rijeka, with links to northern Italy, Varazdin near the border between Slovenia and Hungary, Split in central Dalmatia, and Osijek in eastern Croatia.
Just as in other countries, the group is aiming for a long-term presence and sustainable investment. In alignment with this vision, Accolade has already established a Croatian team and plans to inaugurate a new office in Zagreb soon.
According to Accolade CEO Milan Kratina, the modern industrial infrastructure market in Croatia has only recently started to develop and at present, there are only a handful of modern industrial sites and yet this is a country with considerable potential, this year joining the Eurozone and Schengen Area. Moreover, Croatia possesses a broad base of experienced and technically qualified workers, whilst also benefiting from a dense motorway network and several important ports.
Accolade operates in seven European countries, where it invests in modern and sustainable infrastructure for global e-commerce, manufacturing and logistics brands. It owns a network of more than 54 industrial parks in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovakia with a total value of 2.8 billion euro ($3.0 billion). The group has now completed 3.1 million square metres of commercial properties, which it leases to almost 177 tenants worldwide. More than 7.7 million square metres are in the pipeline. Accolade also invests in brownfield redevelopment.
By the time this story was published, the company has not responded to an email by SeeNews seeking information about the planned investment in the Croatian project.
($ = 0.933 euro)