Athens’ old airport is rivaling New York in property prices

Bloomberg

The redevelopment of Athens’ old airport offered a unique chance to secure pristine sea-side homes close to a major city, and even before bulldozers start to roll, it may already be too late to buy one.
Demand has been so strong that all of the apartments in the project’s 45-floor marina tower as well as the 27 beach-front villas available will be sold by the beginning of next year, if not
earlier, according to Odisseas Athanasiou, chief executive officer of Lamda Development SA, the project’s developer.
The company has already secured more than 700 million euros ($820 million) in deposits with prices starting at 9,000 euros per square metre. Rates are expected to reach 14,000 euros by 2025, which would be the highest in Greece and comparable to the likes of New York, Shanghai and Geneva.
“It’s huge, because we’re talking about a value close to 1 billion euros” once the property is delivered, Athanasiou said.
The early sales are a good sign for Greece’s biggest development project. Stretching across an area three times the size of Monaco, the redevelopment of the decommissioned Hellinikon airport could add as much as 2.2% to the country’s economy and 80,000 jobs by 2025.
The project — now officially known as The Ellinikon — is a much-needed boost for Greece, which saw output contract by around one-fourth during the decade-long debt crisis. The pandemic then caused an 8.2% decline last year.
The redevelopment has been a long-time coming. The airport was shut down in 2001, and the land — which was sold to Lamda in 2014 — has been vacant ever since. On top of political bickering, the project was sidelined by the fallout from the debt crisis.
“The multiplier effect from an investment standpoint, from a tourism standpoint and the perception for the country is going to be huge,” Athanasiou said.
The project is designed as an example of what modern Greece can be.
The area will be powered by renewable resources, and
sensors will regulate everything from lighting to garbage pick
up.
The Ellinikon will be one of the world’s first smart, green communities built from scratch, according to Athanasiou.
The project is also critical for Lamda, a real-estate developer hit by the pandemic. Two of the company’s three malls just recently managed to reach 2019 levels with the latest easing of lockdown restrictions.