New opportunities for city’s logistics business

A Krakow-area redevelopment agency has found companies that want to open warehouse and other facilities in a 22-hectare office, distribution and industrial park at Rybitwy, 7 kilometers from the center of Krakow. The Malopolska Agencja Rozwoju Regionalnego said it is also talking with other companies interested in the park. Some are thinking about putting distribution centers for southern Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine there, according to the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper. Six hectares of the park are available now. They include existing structures that companies could renovate, such as one that was once used to make equipment for the army. Some industrial companies are already operating there, the redevelopment agency said. The redevelopment agency said the area is large enough to accommodate 30,000 square meters of offices and warehouses. While Krakow is a hub of road and rail networks, “for many years it?s lacked warehouse areas and warehouses themselves,” said Jacek Tarkowski, director of the Polish Association of Logistics Managers. Tarkowski said Krakow has the potential to play a major role in distribution in southern Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, but it needs to move fast. Silesia and Rzeszow are already trying to become major logistics centers, he said. Residential real estate developers have been wanting to build apartment complexes in the Rybitwy area, but the redevelopment agency wants to see commercial development. It’s hard to find commercial space in Krakow, said Waclaw Andruszko, director of Krakow’s Chamber of Trade and Industry. Many companies can find good employees but no office space to put them in. That has led to companies finding space in communities outside Krakow. “I am impressed by the vast area of Rybitwy,” Andruszko said. “There won?t be any problem finding companies willing to invest there.” The redevelopment agency said some of the companies that have committed to the park will start building facilities this year. In addition to Rybitwy, the agency has parcels on ul. Powstania Warszawskiego in Krakow and in the Podgorze District. Agency director Witold Smialek said those parcels could accommodate facilities with 10,000 square meters of space.