After countless delays and obstacles, the Elliniko seaside development project is now being feverishly pushed forward by the government.

Yesterday’s approval of the presidential decree determining land use and construction terms, put in motion a series of planned moves by major domestic investors, regarding the stakes in the company that won the concession, Lambda Development.

In a matter of 48 hours, businessman Panos Germanos’ Olympia Group and VNK capital (owned by the Katsos family, proprietors of the Pharmathen Company) purchased 12.8 percent of Lamda from Blackstone, and Attica Department Stores (comprised of Folli Follie, Konstantinos Lambropoulos, et al.) acquired ) 0.6 percent of Lamda’s stock shares.

These entrepreneurs are clearly positioning themselves to exploit the huge opportunities arising from the lifting of legal obstacles to the project.

Elliniko is a seven-billion euro investment project which over the course of 15-20 years is expected to create around 70,000 jobs.

The above stock transactions had been long planned, but they were put on hold pending the resolution of a number of obstacles, including the culture ministry’s decision to declare a chunk of the land an archaeological site.

Lamda announced that it retains two percent of the stock, while Lamda Holdings controls 51 percent.

Foreign investors have a 29 percent stake, Greek private investors 11 percent, and Greek institutional investors seven percent.

The final, formal approval by the Council of State is expected on 28 December.

If all goes as plan, the digging work will begin in 2018.

Project terms and breakdown

The project includes six skyscrapers 200 metres above sea level in height, and a number of other buildings between 50-70 metres above sea level in height.

The project is divided into two major areas, the former international airport of Elliniko and a seacoast front, which together are divided into a total of eleven smaller neighbourhoods, six of which will be residential.

The larger of the two broad areas is the old airport, with an area of 5.2 million square metres, which will be the site of the six residential neighbourhoods.

They are as follows: the former Olympic Airways neighbourhood, the western neighbourhood of the park, the eastern neighbourhood of the park, the Vouliagmenis Avenue Commercial Centre neighbourhood, the neighbourhood of the hill, the Trahones neighbourhood, the tourism-recreation neighbourhood. In addition, there will be an Entrepreneurship Park and the Metropolitan Park.

The seacoast front has an area of 758,000 square metres. It includes the former Olympics sailing centre at Agios Kosmas and the National Youth Athletic Centre land. The Agios Kosmas land will be divided into three neighbourhoods. Along with adjacent land the broader area of the front is six million square metres.

Yorgos Fintikakis