Milan Kratina, CEO of Czech-based logistics developer Accolade talked to Property Forum about investment plans, environmental awareness and the current eagerness of banks to finance new warehousing projects.

After the revitalization of brownfields in Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Czestochowa or Legnica, the former logistics centre in Konin built in the 60's is now coming into play. Accolade plans to invest over €15 million to remediate this property of an aggregated area of 7 hectares and to build a modern Class A ndustrial park. Including this project, the share of revitalized brownfields of the Accolade in Poland makes up 43 %. 

Colliers Czech Republic secured the expansion of the Tchibo distribution centre in the Panattoni Park Cheb industrial zone, which was agreed upon by the developer Panattoni and Tchibo in the first quarter of 2021. The warehouse thus ranked second behind the Amazon distribution centre at Panattoni Park Prague Airport near Dobroviz in Central Bohemia. The modern hall is financed and the Cheb industrial zone is owned by Accolade.

In Q1 2021 Accolade signed new lease agreements in Poland of total GLA amounting to more than 61 000 sqm. Thanks to this quarter, Accolade´s portfolio has increased by 6 new tenants and the total rental space increased year to year by over 150 000 sqm, ultimately hitting the 750 000 sqm mark. 

Two new industrial buildings with a total area of 38,000 sqm are planned to be built in Bialystok. With a total investment of more than €33 million Accolade continues to develop its portfolio in Eastern Poland. The first tenant of the Class A warehouse will be InPost, a Polish-based complex logistics operator. Building A, which will be built during the first phase of the project, will be handed over to the tenant in September.

The first tenant in the building with a potential area of up to 45,700 sqm is DHL. The global logistics operator will thus expand its activities in Accolade’s parks by another 20,500 sqm. The first part of the building will be handed over in June. The new €31 million project will not just meet all standards for BREEAM Very Good certificate.  

Accolade published its results for 2020. Last year saw the expansion of the portfolio area by 30%, almost 400 new qualified investors and a year-on-year return of 10,02%. The biggest industrial real estate fund in the Czech Republic now owns a total of 16 industrial parks in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany with an area of 936,304 sqm.1,200 investors benefit from the rental income which was increased by 35%, in 2020.

Accolade and Panattoni are continuing the extensive revitalization of a former settling reservoir in a sugar factory near Kojetín in the Olomouc region. The CZK 3 billion industrial complex, designed and constructed aligned with the latest trends in e-commerce and targeting future local and foreign tenants, will be completed by the end of the year 2022.

Consolidating its position in the Polish logistics market, Accolade Group has added new projects with a future area of almost 250,000 sqm to expand its locations. The size of its portfolio has reached 1 million sqm, partly thanks to one of the largest financial transactions in the industrial real estate segment in Poland. The total value of the Polish portfolio has reached almost €700 million.

Accolade Industrial Fund has secured an €85 million refinancing loan from Česká spořitelna for its Czech industrial portfolio. At the same time, the Fund responds to growing interest from qualified investors and following its debut in the domestic Czech market, it’s opening a distribution network in neighbouring Slovakia, together with Slovenská sporiteľňa.