Panattoni will build a dedicated facility for Weber, US manufacturer of grills and accessories. The 50,000-square-metre BTS (built-to-suit) facility will be developed in Zabrze and the tenant will move into in August 2021.
The construction of the warehousing/manufacturing centre for Weber-Stephen Products LLC – the world’s leading manufacturer of charcoal, gas and electric outdoor grills and related accessories – will begin in the coming August. The project provides for the construction of a 50,000-square-metre facility, of which close to 4,000 sqm will be dedicated to office space. Additionally, the facility can be extended in the future by a further 30,000 sqm. In total, 450 people will be employed here. With their needs in mind, the green areas have been designed with a leisure function, and inside the building will be a Grill Academy, holding grilling demonstration classes for employees. The facility will be provided with solar panels and certified under BREEAM.
“We have decided to set up our first assembly line and distribution centre in Poland, having regard to the dynamic growth of our business. This is our first manufacturing plant in Europe. We chose Upper Silesia because it is one of the key European logistics centres, close to suppliers and customers. Within an hour’s drive, you can reach a population of 8 million people, and within 4 hours – as many as 50 million consumers” explains Michael Jacobs, Executive Vice-President, Global Supply Chain & Operations from Weber-Stephen.
Maciej Madejak, Managing Director from Panattoni mentions another aspect which should not be ignored, the location of the site within the Katowice Special Economic Zone: “It provides the investor with access not only to qualified workforce but also to a range of tax incentives, potentially up to 25 per cent of the total investment outlay. The attitude of Zabrze authorities was important, too. It is worth highlighting that last year the Katowice Special Economic Zone was named the best industrial zone in Europe and the second-best worldwide by the FDI Business Financial Times 2019”.
The project will be delivered in Zabrze, from where Weber will serve not only European markets but also those in Asia and Africa. Within a radius of an hour’s drive, there are three international airports (Katowice, Krakow, Ostrava). The site has direct access to the A1 motorway (Gdańsk – Łódź – Czechia – Austria), and the intersection of the A1 and A4 (Germany – Wrocław – Krakow) is just a 10 minutes’ drive away.
