Land in the Hrušov zone is in high demand

11/7 2018

The members of the Ostrava City Assembly approved the plan to sell the land in Hrušov owned by the City. Last September, the City invited prospective buyers to submit their offers for an investment project in the Hrušov development zone. Four offers were received by April 30. The City Assembly also determined the ranking of the prospective buyers, and the City will negotiate the sale of the land with these prospective buyers in that order.

Land in the Hrušov zone is in high demand

The land offered for sale has an area of 35.07 hectares and the lowest bid price was set by the City at CZK 195,645,275 excl. VAT. This price includes all the costs the City has spent on preparing the site. Its west and north borders are formed by the new Bohumínská street (road I/58), the České dráhy railway line Ostrava–Bohumín forming its south border.

The existing site is now completely devastated and practically uninhabited. Before the 1997 floods, the area was dominated by housing with civic amenities. As a result of mining activities, in the 1920s and 1960s the area's surface subsided by up to three meters and the whole area dropped below the level of "normal" flow volumes in the nearby Odra River. During the 1997 floods, the whole area was flooded, followed by its devastation, gradual depopulation, and its transformation into a "social brownfield".

After the floods it was not realistic to restore the residential development, so the City began to work on the consolidation of the plots, which it subsequently offered to investors with a suitable development project. One of the conditions was to resolve the most fundamental problem of the area – the absence of any water outflow from the area. This was also confirmed by the fajnOVA strategic plan, in which the project for the creation of a development zone is included among the flagship projects under the strategic objective "Improve the environment for business development" under the priority "Wealth in People".

"The consolidation of the land parcels in the area with the plan to build a light industry zone started in 2006. I am pleased that this neglected brownfield area will undergo a major change in the following years. In addition, it is the first site owned by the City which has not been created by the occupation of agricultural land. The Hrabová zone is at its capacity. And the strategic industrial zone in Mošnov is at 70% and we are talking with other investors who are interested in coming to this zone. This shows that Ostrava is attractive for investors", said Tomáš Macura, the Mayor of Ostrava.

The City of Ostrava received four offers to purchase the land in Hrušov. Each of them presented a project for the use of the land, a brief technical design of the drainage of the land, specification of planned buildings, the use of these buildings and a timetable for the preparation and implementation of the project. Furthermore, they included the bid price, the employment commitment with at least 20 jobs per hectare and the estimated amount of funds to be invested in the planned construction.

After evaluating all of the bids approved by the City Council, the City has determined the order of the companies in which it will negotiate the sale:

  1. Contera Management s.r.o.
  2. CTP Invest, spol. s r.o.
  3. P3 Parks s.r.o.
  4. Panattoni Czech Republic Development s.r.o.

The bid price of the winning bidder, excluding a potential remediation subsidy from the State (joint application to be submitted by the City and the bidder), amounts to CZK 243 million. The number of jobs created is 712 and the deadline for the completion of 70% of commercial buildings is March 2025.

"The approved sale marks the start of the talks with the winning investor. If we agree on all the points of the preliminary purchase agreement during the holidays, we can conclude the agreement with the winning bidder at the September meeting of the City Assembly. We could thus conclude the first long phase of land consolidation and endless discussions about the possible remediation of this site. In about five years, it could welcome its first employees", said Tomáš Macura, the Mayor of Ostrava.

The first-ranking bidder wants to build light industry halls for storage and light production, as well as so called "flexispace buildings", which combine storage spaces with administrative or commercial areas, and buildings designed for scientific and technological purposes. Some of the buildings will be intended for local small and medium enterprises. The estimated volume of funds that Contera Management intends to invest in the construction is estimated at CZK 1.6 to 1.9 billion.