New lease of life for Stadiou St
Stadiou Street, in the heart of downtown Athens, is getting a major facelift thanks to investments of more than 50 million euros by property companies, investors and hotel groups in the reconstruction, upgrade and operation of new hotel units.
The street linking Omonia and Syntagma squares – once enjoying major commercial and business activity – suffered an extended period of decline, as it saw some 40% of its properties vacant during the 2010s financial crisis.
Now, however, it is on the cusp of a considerable upgrade as a series of historic buildings along its flanks are about to get a new lease of life by operating as modern hotel units.
The most recent development concerns the comeback, after more than five years, of Greek-Venezuelan entrepreneur Theodoros Douzoglou. After spending over €100 million in the local realty market, mainly in 2015-2017, he spent a few years out of the spotlight and most of the properties he acquired remained unused. This is now changing.
Recently the former OTE building on Stadiou Street, near Greece’s Old Parliament, received clearance to reap the benefits of a 2016 investment incentives law. According to the business plan, that building will be transformed into a five-star hotel with 91 rooms and 240 beds, through a €14.3 million investment.
Brown Hotels is also planning to create a hotel at a building belonging to the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA). The Israeli chain was the sole bidder for the long-term lease of the asset at 41 Stadiou, which has a surface area of 8,453 square meters. The building, which used to host a Fokas department store, will require a significant investment to become a hotel, estimated at almost €10 million.
A similar amount of money has also been invested by another Israeli-owned hotel company, the Fattal Group, in order to repair and renovate the former Esperia Palace Hotel on Stadiou. It will host a hotel of the NYX Athens chain. Work began three months ago and should be completed by this fall, which means the new hotel will be ready to open its doors for Christmas 2022.
