February 2017
Ostrava to appear at MIPIM as part of the ‘Czech Cities’ exhibition
For the past two decades, Ostrava has been an annual participant at MIPIM, the prestigious global real estate and investment event held in Cannes. This year, for the first time ever, the city will appear alongside Prague and Brno as part of the joint ‘Czech Cities’ presentation.
Ostrava has taken on the task of coordinating the presentation, which will showcase the Czech Republic’s three biggest cities to a large number of potential partners: investors, representatives of other European cities and regions, banks and financial institutions, plus a wide range of other important players in the global real estate and investment market. The exhibition will be an ideal opportunity for investors to gain a complete overview of the Czech market, with a special focus on the investment opportunities offered by Ostrava, Prague and Brno.
Ostrava’s presentation will highlight the city’s unique strengths, the excellent relationship of trust it has built up with investors over many years, and its long-term focus on dynamic, sustainable development. Ostrava will unveil a new range of highly attractive development locations in the heart of the historic city centre – the Karolina site, the Black Meadow (Černá Louka) complex, and the vacant lots on the west side of the central Masaryk Square. With a prime central location, these sites have the potential to offer up to 336,100 m2 of new usable space when fully developed. The City of Ostrava is seeking potential partners to invest in and develop these locations. The sites are zoned for mixed use (residential developments and civic amenities) and for heights of more than three storeys. New developments should ensure that the city centre is a pleasant, vibrant space not only for local people, but also for tourists and visitors.
Another major new project to be presented at this year’s MIPIM is the reconstruction of the historic former slaughterhouse complex in central Ostrava. The City has announced an international architectural competition for projects to revitalize this valuable heritage site by converting it into a centre for arts and culture – including premises for the Plato Gallery.
Besides showcasing new development locations in the historic city centre, Ostrava will also present a wide range of other potential investment opportunities – including the city’s highly successful industrial zones (Mošnov, Hrabová), the Science and Technology Park, and the IT4Innovations Centre of Excellence. IT4Innovations is home to Salomon, officially the 40th most powerful supercomputer in the world according to the TOP 500 rankings. Other projects to be presented at MIPIM include the model revitalization of large brownfield sites (Karolina and Lower Vítkovice – including the multifunctional ‘Gong’ arena created by converting a former industrial gas-holder), available land for building, and strategic projects.
The joint ‘Czech Cities’ exhibition will cover an area of 253 m2, and each of the trio of cities will have its own separate space for meetings and discussions. The joint stand will host a special event for potential partners and investors on Wednesday 15 March at 15:00.
Invitation
MIPIM is held annually in March. Together with Expo Real in Munich (held every October), it is one of the top two premier investment events in Europe. This year’s 28th MIPIM will last from Tuesday 14 March to Friday 17 March.
Ostrava – a hub for business services
With approximately 300,000 inhabitants, Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the capital of the second largest region with 1.2 million people. The city is experiencing an exciting transformation, and is fast becoming a major hub for global business services.
High standards of education are offered at 5 well-respected universities, many of which excel in technical, IT and business-related fields and produce 9 000 fresh graduates every year for the local labour market. Ostrava has an international airport with a growing number of direct destinations including Prague, London, Milan, Paris, Düsseldorf and Dubai. There are a number of fast train services and excellent road links to Olomouc, Brno and Prague, as well as onward to Poland, Slovakia and Austria.
Ostrava is a modern hub for business services, with many major global companies choosing the city as the ideal location for their international centres providing the highest levels of IT, finance, telecommunications and customer care services in over 30 different languages to their global clients. The business services segment in Ostrava now employs over 7,000 graduates and professionals, and it continues to attract new investment growth at over 20% per annum.
Ostrava is known for its strong industrial tradition, and nowadays the city has grown to become a major business services location with excellent infrastructure, proximity to beautiful countryside and a vibrant cultural life that attracts talented young professionals from the Czech Republic and abroad.
Ostrava offers some of the most advanced office space in the CEE region together with exceptional value for money. Combined with a well-earned reputation for extraordinary talent and hard work, it is no surprise that Ostrava attracts some of the world’s biggest companies to come and share in the success story.
In the past year the business services segment grew by 16%, bringing 10,000 new jobs to the Czech labour market. Provided that growth continues at roughly the same tempo, business services are likely to account for at least 100,000 employees in the Czech Republic by 2020 – making this one of the fastest-growing and most important segments in the Czech economy.
Business Service Sector in Ostrava
Available office space in Ostrava
The range of newly available office space in Ostrava will grow during 2017 to include the Red House (4,500 m2) complex and the reconstruction of the ABC Alfa building (6,500 m2), both scheduled for completion this year. No new office buildings were completed during the second half of 2016. The total area of modern office space currently available is 208,366 m2. Class A offices represent 72% of this total, and Class B offices the remaining 28%.
Gross take-up in the second half of 2016 reached approximately 2,700 m2, a decrease of 72% compared with the first half of the year. The net figure (i.e. excluding renegotiations and subleases) remained the same, as no preliminary contract negotiations were undertaken.
The largest transaction in the second half of 2016 was a new company lease (1,500 m2) at Axis Office Park Ostrava. At the end of the year Ostrava had a total 41,000 m2 of vacant office space. The year-end vacancy rate fell by 0.6% from the mid-year rate, to 19.7%. The prime headline rent remained the same at 11.50 EUR/ m2/ month.
Newly reconstructed ABC complex helps to revitalize Ostrava’s city centre
The ABC office complex in central Ostrava (occupying the block between the New City Hall and Gregorova Street) has now been restored to its former glory. Following an extensive interior reconstruction and refitting at a cost of around 100 million CZK, this prestigious address once again offers outstanding modern office facilities in the heart of the city.
Asental Business Center (ABC) launched the reconstruction project in May 2016, and the completed ABC complex was opened to new tenants at the beginning of this year. It offers full air conditioning, energy efficient heating, a 24-hour reception service, optical data cables, a canteen and underground parking. The office facilities can be custom-designed to meet the individual requirements of each tenant.
Currently the complex comprises around 4,300 m2 of office space (out of a total floor space of 6,500 m2). Around a third of the newly reconstructed space has already been leased to new tenants or is the subject of ongoing negotiations. New tenants include an Austrian financial services provider and a major e-shop. The “Beta” building is already full to capacity.
The “Alfa” building was designed by the renowned Ostrava architect Karel Kotas for the Directorate of the Northern Ferdinand Railway; it was built in 1938–1940. It was later used as the head office of the OKD mining corporation. In 2007 the entire building was listed as a cultural monument, so all the valuable historic features had to be carefully preserved during the reconstruction project. Notable features include the beautiful stained glass windows by Jan Bauch, the grand central staircase, the unique ‘Paternoster’ elevator with its continuous loop system, and the frescoes on the façade; all these have been restored to their original 1930s glory.
Refill Ostrava – opportunities for a new start
The Refill project promotes the temporary use of vacant buildings as a tool for injecting new life into unused urban spaces. The project is now entering its next phase of implementation. The City of Ostrava is keen to ensure that as many buildings as possible are in regular use. Because vacant spaces in the city centre tend to fill up quickly due to their highly desirable location, the City is focusing its efforts mainly on buildings situated outside Ostrava’s central core.
Thanks to this innovative project, the owners of vacant buildings (or vacant land) can now offer their properties for temporary (short-term) use. This is an ideal way of ensuring that buildings do not gradually fall into disrepair, which tends to happen if they are left vacant for long periods of time. Business start-ups can use their temporary tenancy as an opportunity to pilot their operations, test the viability of their business plans, and gain valuable experience. The scheme also enables members of local communities to play an active role in shaping the urban environment in which they live.
Refill is one of the flagship projects in the City of Ostrava’s Strategic Plan. Ostrava is currently one of nine European cities involved in the scheme. The planning stage is 85% funded by the EU (via the URBACT III programme), with the remaining 15% of the funding provided by the City’s own budget. The concept of “temporary use” is well-established in many countries as a means of stimulating urban development and revitalization. Refill offers vacant buildings, spaces and land to start-ups for temporary use at greatly discounted rates.
In order to decide whether this principle is viable for Ostrava, we are conducting a preliminary survey (among owners and users of buildings) to assess potential options for involvement in the REFILL OSTRAVA project. The survey has two main goals. First, it will map the availability of vacant buildings, spaces and land in Ostrava, focusing on the technical condition and potential use of these sites. Second, it will measure levels of public interest and gauge people’s willingness to become involved in socially and culturally beneficial activities at such locations (either as organizers or visitors).
If you would like to take part in the survey, you can go to the specially created website. Respondents can become involved in three different ways – by completing a short questionnaire, taking part in an individual meeting, or participating in a group discussion. Each respondent can choose which of these three forms of participation suits them best, depending on how much time they are willing or able to devote to the project. The results of the survey will assist the project team in planning the cooperative platform to ensure that the temporary use brings the maximum benefits to both the owners and the users of the spaces.
For more information about the project see www.refillova.cz.
Car battery producer A123 Systems opens a new factory at Hrabová
A123 Systems develops and produces hi-tech lithium-ion car batteries and energy storage systems. The company is currently expanding its presence on the European market, and the opening ceremony of its new factory at the CTPark in Ostrava-Hrabová will take place on Thursday 2 March.
A123 Systems has leased part of a factory hall (around 7,000 m2) which it plans to use in a future expansion. The company expects to produce around 600 000 batteries per year at the new factory, which will employ up to 150 people ranging from expert engineers to highly qualified production operators. 
Previously, the company’s only production facilities were in China and Michigan (USA), with a technical centre in Stuttgart (Germany). The new factory reflects the rapid growth in European market demand for low-voltage automotive projects – which is the company’s key area of strategic focus going forward. A123 Systems ranks among the global leaders in the development and production of lithium-ion batteries.
Ostrava 2.0 conference: visions in motion
On 28 February 2017 from 14:00 to 18:00, ABSL and Impact Hub Ostrava are holding the Ostrava 2.0 conference – a forum for key stakeholders to meet and discuss the city’s future development prospects.
Invitation
This event will be an ideal opportunity for investors, executive managers and company representatives to meet and discuss key topics related to future developments.
Why is Ostrava becoming a major new centre for business services? Why is it now the third most attractive Czech city for investors? And why will it soon become an even better place to live and work? The conference will include presentations of ongoing projects from the fields of business, housing and culture – projects that are all helping to make Ostrava an increasingly attractive location both for investors and for their potential employees.
Ostrava’s vibrant and talented start-up scene will also be showcased in a short presentation at the end of the conference.
The event follows on from a meeting held at the Nová Karolina Park office complex on 23 November 2016, presenting Ostrava as a modern business services centre. This time the conference venue will be the Impact Hub Ostrava. Participation is free of charge, but capacity is limited. You can register here: http://www.absl.cz/news-highlights/15-events/167-ostrava-2-0
Ostrava set to host the global medical community
From 13–15 June 2017 Ostrava will be the venue for the Environment and Health conference organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). Hundreds of experts from all around the world will come to Ostrava for this prestigious global event. Previous WHO conference host cities have included Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Budapest and Parma.
All 54 WHO member states are expected to send delegates to Ostrava – headed by their health and environment ministers. The 2010 Environment and Health conference in Parma welcomed around 800 visitors, including 50 government ministers.
At the end of the conference, the ministerial delegations will agree on a document to be known as the ‘Ostrava Declaration’. Valid for the next six years, the document will set out a modern approach to dealing with the health impacts of environmental factors throughout Europe.
The declaration will emphasize the key role to be played by regions and municipalities in implementing health and environmental policy, so representatives of the City of Ostrava and the Moravian-Silesian Region will play a prominent role in the conference. There are plans to organize a meeting of representatives from selected regional governments or mayors to discuss key topics.