U.S. gaming group expects Athens casino resort to be ready by 2026

Lamda Development SA

14/05/2021 11:43

ATHENS, May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. casino group Mohegan Gaming
and Entertainment expects that a luxury casino resort on the
site of the former Athens airport will be ready by 2026, a top
company executive said on Friday, giving a timeframe for the
first time on development plans.
    The consortium of Mohegan and Greek construction group GEK
Terna  HRMr.AT  last year won a Greek tender for the
construction and 30-year operation of the casino resort on the
site of the former Hellenikon airport on the Athens seafront.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2H40WZ
    The next steps in the process include signing the contract
and clearing it with Greek auditors and parliament.
    "Right now, we anticipate that upon conclusion of the
contractual negotiation process, permitting and design will take
approximately 12 to 18 months", Ray Pineault, Mohegan's interim
CEO told the Delphi Economic Forum in Athens.
    He said that the resort was expected to open in 2025 or
2026.
    The resort is part of an 8 billion euro ($9.68
billion)redevelopment plan for the former airport site by Greek
developer Lamda  LMDr.AT  that will eventually house shopping
malls, hotels and residences.
    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. Greece's conservative government that took power in
2019 has vowed to speed up the project. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2MZ5TC
    The Greek economy relies heavily on tourism, which generates
a fifth of the country's economic output and employs one in five
workers.
    The casino resort will include a hotel, entertainment
venues, convention centres and shopping and dining amenities.
    "We anticipate the IRC (resort) will grow international
tourism in the Attica region by at least 10%," Pineault said.
"It will be a facility that's unforeseen anywhere else in all of
Europe."
     Lamda Development  LMDr.AT  said this week it was hopeful
that it can start construction work in Hellenikon, Greece's
biggest urban redevelopment plan, in the autumn if it secures
the property from the state next month. 


($1 = 0.8260 euros)

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