Big business on the D1 motorway. Gas stations, fast food and developers are ready to do business – PRAVDA.sk

Not only the endless frustration of drivers, but also the considerably high ambitions of traders is created by a key arterial road in the Czech Republic. With the D1 motorway repaired, gas station operators, fast fooders and industrial property lessors have big plans.

While the pumps built on the development of gastronomy and the expansion of electric cars, the developers are planning more frequent construction of halls along the entire D1, not only in the vicinity of Prague or Brno. The e15.cz server informed about it. The pandemic accelerated the growth of e-commerce, which is also reflected in the lack of storage capacity. “Our clients are therefore forced to look for storage locations further away from the capital. They focus mainly on highways, especially the D1, “said Markéta Vrbasová, director of industrial and logistics at the Knight Frank real estate consulting company.

Lack of capacity (vacancy on the Czech market is only around 2.5%), combined with growing demand for malts and more expensive building materials, is driving up rental prices. The growth is significant especially at the exits from the D1 around large cities.

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The monthly rent in warehouses along the D1 ranges from 4.5 to 4.9 euros per square meter. However, the P3, CTP or GLP developers’ premises located closer to Prague cost tenants up to 6.5 euros. “The question is whether, for example, logistics companies trading with low margins can pay such rents in the long term,” said Vrbasová. “Locations further from Prague to the D1 remain an alternative. We expect construction to extend to virtually all highway exits that offer suitable land and available manpower within driving distance. ”

The developer UDI Group, for example, invested one billion in the new logistics complex. The four halls stand at the 34th motorway exit and are already three-quarters full. The capacities will be used, for example, by the Nagel-Group, which provides food logistics, or by the Czech logistics operator WeDo.

Gas station networks also benefit from the D1 “money line”. However, their business is far from over by pushing their bills for refueling. The pumps have gradually pushed out classic restaurants and are increasingly relying on their own gastronomy.

They see another great potential in the expected onset of electromobility. On the one hand, in the operation of the network of charging stations, on the other hand, there are several rest areas on offer, not only for drivers who spend significantly more time at petrol stations while charging an electric car than when refueling petrol or diesel.

“The business of gas stations will be significantly strengthened with the advent of electromobility. Drivers charge their car, taking more minutes during this period. A new space is also opening up for a fun and relaxing business focused, among other things, on children, even though we are only at the beginning, “said Václav Stárek, President of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants. He reminded that gas stations, together with fast food, have recently managed to completely push classic restaurants out of the D1.

The KFC and McDonald’s fast food networks also anticipate the growing importance of the D1 motorway in the future. Both confirmed expansion plans.

However, while restaurants are to be added, parking spaces and truck parking spaces are still lacking. There are also no ramps where drivers would remove snow and ice from the sails, said Igor Sirota, a spokesman for the Central Automobile Club of the Czech Republic. “Instead, snow and ice fly away from trucks to the cars behind them. Damage to the hood or window of the vehicle is then the least problem, “he added.