Brownfield of the Year 2009: Modern industrial zone arises from closed mine

The most successful business property of 2009 is the František Industrial Zone, which was established through the revitalisation of a disused site, i.e. a brownfield. The second- and third place winners in the Brownfield of the Year category of the Business Property of the Year 2009 competition are Hotel Budweis and DinoPark Ostrava, respectively. The Brownfield of the Year awards were presented today at 7:00 p.m. during the celebratory announcement of the results of Business Property of the Year 2009. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the competition, which was organised by CzechInvest and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in cooperation with the Association for Foreign Investment (AFI).

The František Industrial Zone in Horní Suchá, Karvin region, took first place in the Business Property of the Year 2009 competition, Brownfield of the Year category. The industrial zone was established on the site of a disused brown-coal mine which bore the name of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. At its peak, the mine employed 3,500 miners, and over three hundred local people work there today. “When the last coal car came to the surface in 1999, it was a palpable loss for the municipality and its four and a half thousand inhabitants,” says Jan Lipner, mayor of Horní Suchá, explaining the reasons behind the site’s revitalisation.

The local authorities converted the disused mine into a prospering industrial zone with the assistance of state and European aid. The mine’s former administrative building serves as a business incubator and a light industrial hall was also newly constructed on the site. Ten years after the closure of the František mine, 25 firms from various sectors now operate in the 14-hectare industrial zone.

A new use was also found for a dilapidated mill dating from 1296 and standing in the centre of České Budějovice. Following its complete reconstruction, the facility reopened in 2009 and since then it has served as a four-star hotel with a restaurant and conference spaces. Hotel Budweis won the second-place award for the successful regeneration of the former mill in the Brownfield of the Year category within the Business Property of the Year 2009 competition.

Third place in the Brownfield of the Year category went to DinoPark Ostrava. The regenerated waste pit and dumpsite covering 35 hectares is now used primarily by families with children, serving as a dinosaur-themed amusement and educational park. DinoPark Ostrava welcomes an estimated 180,000 visitors per season.         

Business Property of the Year is a competition organised each year by CzechInvest and the Ministry of Industry of Trade in cooperation with the Association for Foreign Investment (AFI). The general partner of this year’s competition is the ČEZ Group; the partners are ČSOB, the National Gallery, QUIX and Zátiší Catering. The media partners of the event are Euro, Z1, E15 and Strategie

The competing investment projects are evaluated by a committee composed of representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the AFI, CzechInvest and previous winners. For the first time this year, the celebratory announcement of the winners was realised in conjunction with the announcement of the results of the Investor of the Year competition. The awards were presented to the winners today at 7.00 p.m. at the Cloister of St. Agnes of Bohemia in Prague. The ceremony was attended by guests including members of the government and Parliamentary and Senate committees, governors, ambassadors, significant investors, owners and managers of business properties, and developers.

BRIEFLY:

Business Property of the Year 2009 – Brownfield of the Year

1^st place: FRANTIŠEK Industrial Zone

2^nd place: Hotel Budweis

3^rd place: DinoPark Ostrava

For more information please contact the CzechInvest Press Centre

Štěpánka Filipová, spokesperson, phone: +420 296 342 538, stepanka.filipova@czechinvest.org

Contact to the AFI:

Martin Michalov, PR and Marketing Manager, tel.: +420 224 911 750, martin.michalov@afi.cz