KREFELD, GERMANY — In mid-August, Fressnapf Group officially took over a recently built logistics location from industrial project developer Panattoni. The 47,500-square-meter (approximately 511,285-square-foot) facility in Neuruppin marks Fressnapf’s eighth logistics center in Europe and will also serve as a regional warehouse to facilitate future business expansion.
Panattoni constructed the built-to-suit (BTS) facility to include 31,700 square meters (roughly 341,215 square feet) of storage and technical space, 13,800 square meters (roughly 148,541 square feet) of mezzanine storage space, and 1,700 square meters (roughly 18,298 square feet) of office and communal space for employees.
Storage space offers the capacity for 23,000 pallets, according to Fressnapf. The new facility will support Fressnapf’s pet retail business in Europe, which includes approximately 1,900 Fressnapf and Maxi Zoo stores spanning 11 countries in the region.
“We feel comfortable in Neuruppin,” said Christian Buschmann, vice president of logistics engineering and real estate for Fressnapf Group. “We have already introduced ourselves to the citizens as part of the May and Harbor Festival and other meeting formats. As a new employer in the region, we would like to arouse interest in the exciting tasks that we offer here: from the new location, we supply markets in the north and east of Germany as well as throughout Poland and Scandinavia, thereby ensuring better coexistence between people and animals. We are pleased to now move into the property and put it into operation quickly.”
The new Neuruppin facility is only a five-minute drive from the A24 federal motorway near the Berlin motorway ring, which puts Fressnapf in a strong position to supply more than 400 markets across northern and eastern Germany, as well as Poland and Scandinavia.
“The settlement of companies like the Fressnapf Group corresponds exactly to the strategy of the Neuruppin business location,” said Nico Ruhle, mayor of Neuruppin. “We particularly welcome the fact that around 150 new jobs will be created. Neuruppin residents and new citizens benefit, among other things, from a direct connection to the motorway and rail network as well as a good and growing offering in the areas of culture, education and social affairs.”
Sustainability was built into the new logistics facility, according to Fressnapf and Panattoni. The plant was designed to achieve the DGNB Platinum Standard, the highest sustainability benchmark certification offered by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB). To achieve this goal, Panattoni implemented pre-equipment for solar energy infrastructure and cisterns for collecting and storing rainwater for use throughout the building. Viable refrigerant flow (VRF) technology built into the facility will also help Fressnapf heat the building without the use of fossil fuels.
Charging stations for employees with electric vehicles were also installed, as well as nesting boxes for local birds and outdoor spaces for employees. Additionally, Panattoni and Fressnapf worked with the city of Neuruppin and the district’s nature conservation authority to relocate local populations of sand lizards and create a new habitat for them elsewhere.
“With the development of the new logistics location in Neuruppin, we have realized a new building that meets Fressnapf’s requirements,” added Fred-Markus Bohne, managing partner at Panattoni Germany and Austria. “This enables the company to further advance its growth in Europe while at the same time meeting high sustainability standards. At the end of the project, we would like to once again emphasize the excellent collaboration and express our thanks to everyone involved for the smooth collaboration.”
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