CzechInvest seeks the best business properties

Companies, municipalities and individuals still have one month to register for the Business Property of the Year competition. Receipt of registrations for the ninth annual event will end on 15 October. Business properties eligible for the competition are those whose preparation was realised in 2008 or those for which an investment was announced by at least one company from the areas of manufacturing, business support services or research and development. The competition is being organised by CzechInvest in cooperation with the Association for Foreign Investment.

“For this year’s event, we have prepared a completely new category – Industrial Agent of the Year,” saysAlexandra Rudyšarová, acting CEO of CzechInvest. “We want to reward not only companies, but also individuals, as they personally play an important role in leasing or other forms of brokering industrial property.

“The prize in this category will be available to real estate agents who last year took part in brokering lease and acquisition transactions with investors in the areas of manufacturing, repair centres, shared-services centres or research and development,” explains Milan Kratina, director of the Project Placement Department at CzechInvest.

Last year a new category for rental properties – Industrial Park with the Greatest Economic Benefit – was added to the competition. Statistics clearly indicate that investors have ever greater interest in renting instead of purchasing land in industrial zones. These will be awarded prizes in the category Industrial Zone with the Greatest Economic Benefit.

Of course, the traditional categories Brownfield of the Year and Business Property with the Greatest Benefit for Innovation and Research will receive a great deal of attention. “Particularly this type of real estate best meets the needs of the largest number of investors coming to the Czech Republic,” says Rudyšarová, commenting on the agency’s current statistics, according to which the greatest number of new investments in the Czech Republic were in the area of research and development or services. The celebratory announcement of the awards is planned for early November. Registration forms and conditions for participation are available at www.czechinvest.org/en/business-property-of-the-year-competition.

Competition categories:

• Industrial Zone with the Greatest Economic Benefit
• Brownfield of the Year
• Business Property with the Greatest Benefit for Innovation and Research
• Industrial Park with the Greatest Economic Benefit
• Industrial Agent of the Year
• Business-Property Manager of the Year

Registration:

• Until: 15 October 2009
• Where: www.podnikatelskanemovitost.cz

Criteria of individual categories:

• Industrial Zone with the Greatest Economic Benefit

Within this category, the expert committee will evaluate the overall economic benefit based on the investment amount and the number of newly created jobs. Other criteria are focused on the demandingness of projects and the situation in the regions where they were implemented.

• Brownfield of the Year

The expert committee will evaluate primarily the quality of projects involving the regeneration of disused or neglected sites and their new uses, remedy of ecological damage and the projects’ positive impact on the environment.

• Business Property with the Greatest Benefit for Innovation and Research

The decisive criteria for placement in this category are properties’ engineering solution, technical equipment and size. Other evaluated factors include the level of cooperation with educational institutes and the number of newly created specialised jobs.

• Industrial Park with the Greatest Economic Benefit

The expert committee will evaluate industrial parks with an area of at least 5,000 m² of rental halls which in 2008 had the greatest volume of lease transactions with investors in the areas of manufacturing, repair centres, shared-services centres or research and development.

• Industrial Agent of the Year

This award is intended for individuals who in 2008 participated in the brokering of lease and acquisition transactions with investors in the areas of manufacturing, repair centres, shared-services centres or research and development.

• Business-Property Manager of the Year

Within this category the professionalism of industrial-zone managers is assessed along with their participation in the successful placement of investments in the given industrial zone. A further condition of eligibility is that the nominated managers of industrial zones must be actively engaged in this activity at the time when they are being evaluated within this category as well as when the award is announced.

Previous winners:

• Industrial Zone with the Greatest Economic Benefit

2000: Plzeň – Borská pole Industrial Zone

2001: Kolín – Ovčáry Industrial Zone

2002: Lovosice Industrial and Logistics Centre

2003: CTPark D1 – CTP Modřice

2004: Brno – Černovické terasy Industrial Zone

2005: Krupka Industrial Zone

2006: Nošovice Industrial Zone

2007: Most – JOSEPH Industrial Zone

• Brownfield of the Year

2003: Triangle Strategic Industrial Zone

2004: Škoda Plzeň

2005: TMT Chrudim

2006: Třinec-Baliny

2006: Special Prize: Palladium

2007: Zambelli-technik

• Business Property with the Greatest Benefit for the Development of Applied Research

2005: Biotechnology Centre, Institute of Physical Biology, Nové Hrady

2006: Zlín Technological Innovation Centre

2007: Plzeň Science and Technology Park

• Industrial-Zone Manager of the Year

2002: Jaroslav Pojar

2003: Petr Matoušek

2004: Jan Sixta

2005: Roman Čermák

2006: Hana Svobodová

2007: Jaroslav Krch

• Industrial Zone with the Greatest Social Benefit (discontinued category)

2000: Karviná – Nové Pole Industrial Zone

2001: Kolín – Ovčáry Industrial Zone

2002: Karviná – Nové Pole Industrial Zone

2003: Kopřivnice Industrial Zone

2004: Ostrava – Hrabová Industrial Zone (Phase I)

2005: Žatec – Triangle Strategic Industrial Zone

• Industrial Zone with the Most Suitable Urban-Planning Solution (discontinued category)

2000: Czech Technology Park in Brno

2001: Zlín-East Industrial Zone

2002: Severní Předlice Industrial Zone, Ústí nad Labem

2003: Cheb Industrial Park

2004: CTPark Ostrava

For more information please contact the CzechInvest Press Centre

Lucie Kocourková, spokesperson, phone: +420 296 342 538, lucie.kocourkova@czechinvest.org