Greece's Lamda eyes autumn start for airport site redevelopment

Lamda Development SA

12/05/2021 15:31

ATHENS, May 12 (Reuters) - Lamda Development  LMDr.AT  is
hopeful that it can start one of Greece's biggest urban
redevelopment plans in the autumn if it secures the property
from the state next month, the group's top executive said on
Wednesday.
    The 1,500-acre Hellenikon airport site on the Athens coast,
where disused runways, terminals and former Olympic venues have
sat abandoned for almost two decades, will eventually house
shopping malls, hotels and residences under a 99-year lease with
the state.
    Shopping mall developer Lamda won a government tender for
the redevelopment of the site in 2014 but after years of delays
due to red tape, political resistance and local opposition, has
yet to be handed control.
    Last summer demolition crews began tearing down the first of
hundreds of blocks that need to be removed from the site, which
is three times the size of Monaco.
    "If the transfer (of shares) takes place in June...you'll
start seeing construction work, if not in the summer, in the
autumn," Lamda Development CEO Odisseas Athanasiou told an
economic conference in Athens.
    The finance ministry was not available to comment.
    Athanasiou said he expected a "torrent" of proposals by
investors for the eight-billion-euro project once
privately-owned Lamda takes control.
    The developer plans to set up partnerships and has already
secured 2.5 billion euros ($3.03 billion) to help finance
construction of the necessary infrastructure and buildings for
the first five years, he said. 
    The conservative government that took power in 2019 has
vowed to speed up the project, which is expected to help its
efforts to pull the country out of a recession induced by the
coronavirus pandemic following a decade-long financial crisis.
    A consortium led by U.S. casino operator Mohegan Gaming &
Entertainment  MOTGA.UL  plans to build and operate a luxury
resort for 30 years on the site.
($1 = 0.8261 euros)

 (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 2102214608;
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net))