Time for part B of the coastal front redevelopment project in Athens

A series of steps must be taken to launch the tender for the Phase B redevelopment projects of Falirikos Ormos (Faliro bay), which completes the redevelopment of the coastal front of the area and the creation of the coastal park in Faliro.

The project was last week included in the NSRF 2014-2020 and the funding of 365 million euros concerns both phases of the project. The first phase of 110 million euros concerns the projects that are in the tender phase (we are in about 95%) and the second phase of 255 million euros concerns Phase B of the projects.

In order to reach the announcement of the tender, it will be necessary to complete the maturation process and receive all the necessary approvals. The project is estimated to be tendered within 2023.

Completion of the tender will most likely  be in 2024 as the average time from the announcement of a tender to the signing of the contract is approximately 12 months.

The project will have a duration of 36 months, so at best it will be ready in 2027 (not counting any extensions to the works). In the approval decision, December 31, 2030 is defined as the end date of the operation. The continuation of the financing of the project will be included in the NSRF 2021-2027.

The history of the project

Today, what someone sees in Faliro Bay is the presence of some concrete roofs that were created during the first phase of the works. In the second and final phase the objective is to create a coastal metropolitan park from the Peace and Friendship Stadium to the Tae Kwon Do Stadium.

A key element of the new coastal park will be its connection to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center through the existing Esplanade. It is a pedestrian bridge that connects the sea front of Faliro with the SNFCC.

We should remember that the efforts to implement the project started almost parallel to the construction of the SNF Culture Center in 2013, but then it was not possible for it to join the NSRF.

Then in order for it to be implemented, it was broken into two phases and in 2017 the first phase projects (infrastructure projects) were tendered and started with AKTOR as a contractor. The Implementation Body is the Region of Attica.

What is the project

Together with the Ellinikon Metropolitan Park, they will form the two main green lungs in the coastal area of Athens. The project concerns the complete regeneration of the front of the urban complex of the capital towards the Faliro bay.

The design concerns the regeneration of the park based on thematic functional units developed around the five longitudinal axes – the main entrance gates to the park – which symbolize the continuity of movement to and from the city.

The main individual projects that make up the complete regeneration project of Faliro Bay are summarized as follows:

1. superstructure and landscaping projects and port projects. (Phase B)

The planned large-scale renovations concern projects such as:

(a) landscaping, environmental facilities and planting works, as well as necessary infrastructure works. That is, projects that mainly concern the “skin” of the entire regeneration area – a total area of 536,860 acres – which aim at the environmental upgrading of the area and the creation of a metropolitan-scale Park in Faliro Bay.

(b) construction, electro-mechanical works of the supporting building project of the Park which is broken down into: (b1) new building projects of superstructure surface area 3,957.30 sq m and accompanying auxiliary basement areas of surface area 865.30 sq m, (b2) roof surface area of 810 sq m.

(b3) underground parking spaces of 30,930 m2, (b4) renovations and improvement works of the existing buildings of Zone II, as well as (b5) special constructions.

The renovations also include projects such as:

(c) pedestrian bridges (in Ilissos, in the western channel to Kifissos and above the water reservoirs), which ensure the connection of the individual zones and the internal mobility within the Park,

(d) road construction exclusively within the Park Zone (i.e. internal roads of the Redevelopment Area, with an asphalt surface), outdoor parking areas for motorized two-wheelers and access to the underground parking areas, with the related infrastructure works.

(e) hydraulic works within the park zone (storm drainage, site surrounds, sewage drainage, primary and secondary irrigation network, and supply of recreational reservoirs).

(f) Port projects, as well as all the necessary complementary studies thereof, in the final stage of physical planning. These projects concern piers, islets, beach formations, etc., in zones I and II (Moschato and Kallithea up to the nautical marina), which complete the entire regeneration of the city’s sea front, excluding the formations of the “skin” of the in-sea projects.