Hellinikon Project proceeds as Integrated Development Plan is finally submitted

The developments regarding the privatization and subsequent restoration of Hellinikon are still slow but steady as the Integrated Development Plan was finally submitted by Global Investment Group in the end of 2016. The next stage will be its thorough review and incorporation in the presidential decree leading to its final approval. Another important part of the project’s legal proceedings, are the joint ministerial decisions, also waiting to be enforced concerning town planning and environmental terms.

Pending issues

In order to reach the desired stage of the contract’s final signatures, most likely by the end of 2017, a lot of pending issues need to be sorted, among which, property transfers, evacuations and issuing all required licenses.

What is yet to be verified, is the hopeful acceleration of the project’s implementation that will bring a major boost to the capital’s touristic traffic (an estimated 1 million more tourists on an annual basis), the “resurrection” of the vegetating building activity, as multiple building infrastructures will be constructed, and the creation of 70,000 new jobs.

The project is also promising for the country’s GDP growth, both through the colossal 8bn-euro development investments and the operational revenues afterwards for a stunning 1,532,053 acres of coastal park. 2017 is expected to conclude a rather long pre-contractual period that will subsequently signify the beginning of the construction phase, which will last 5-8 years. The overall concession period is set for 99 years.

The core of the property’s development plan is the recreational park that, along with the commonly used green spaces, will be covering 42% of the area. Other major infrastructure works include the expansion and installation of transportation and utility networks respectively, port works, 50 km of bicycle paths and pedestrianized roads.

Additionally, a Tram branch will be possibly created in order to serve park visitors and residents, Posidonos Avenue will be undergrounded across Hellinikon’s extent, old buildings will be renovated and the coastal front will be restored, offering a free for the public beach with a length of 1 km.

Building infrastructures will include hundreds of deluxe residences, a serious of luxurious hotels, shopping malls, university buildings, a hospital and an aquarium securing instantly 10.000 jobs for the constructions sector.

Finally, what shouldn’t be overlooked, is the urgent discourse for the upgrade of the existing transportation infrastructure, as the implementation of such a demanding project requires multiple improvements along with additional inteventions such as the materialization of the forsaken “Argiroupoli tunnel” project that could provide an excellent solution in terms of relieving and facilitating traffic to and from Athens International Airport, in that part of the city, where Hellinikon is also located.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com

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