Astir plots fetch €500 million
The sales of 13 plots for villas next to Astir Beach in Vouliagmeni, southern Athens, have fetched revenues in excess of 500 million euros, agreed or already signed for in contracts. This more than covers the price of €400 million that AGC Equity Partners paid to acquire the accommodation complex, complete the public offering and delist Astir Palace from the Greek stock market.
For now the sales do not concern actual villas but 13 plots of land on the southwestern side of the Vouliagmeni peninsula, where the Afroditi Hotel once stood.
The construction costs of the villas, which are expected to average more than 1,000 square meters each, will be the responsibility of the new owners. The total area of the 13 plots amounts to some 80,000 square meters, with each averaging at 6,150 sq.m. The price per plot stands at €39 million, or some €6,300/sq.m.
All but two plots have been purchased by companies belonging to the family of shipowner Diamantis Diamantidis. The 12th and 13th are set to be bought in the next few days, when the provisional contract will be signed with people linked with Marianna Latsi, the daughter of shipowner John Latsis. A few of the 13 villas have already had their building permits issued, with procedures expected for the rest too.
These 13 luxurious residences at Astir will rank among the most expensive on the Mediterranean seafront, and obtain the emblematic character that AGC Equity Partners had sought to attribute to the complex. It is also cashing in the funds it had invested in the project.
The deal with AGC for the Astir’s acquisition was reached after Jermyn Street Real Estate Fund won the privatization tender in December 2015. The complex was sold by National Bank of Greece and the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), with the privatization authority receiving only €100 million, given that NBG controlled 75% and collected €300 million.
The area bearing the name Astir covers an area of 304,429.17 sq.m. It currently hosts two renovated hotel units, the Arion and the Nafsika, which are under the management of international hotel chain Four Seasons.
