Square Mile growing in Athens?
Judging by the plans of Greece’s biggest banks to use their central Athens properties to relocate their offices or to otherwise use them commercially, one can be excused for being under the impression they want to turn Stadiou Street, one of the capital’s main streets and the one where commercial properties were hardest hit by the financial crisis, into a mini City of London.
The property market currently offers many opportunities: There is a high, and growing, demand for modern workspaces, as well as hospitality, residential and retail space; and, thanks to the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Fund, there is ample, and cheap, capital to finance property upgrades.
Three of Greece’s “big four” banks – Alpha Bank, Eurobank and Piraeus – have moved, or plan to move, their headquarters to buildings, some of which had been abandoned and derelict, and all of which will be upgraded, on Stadiou or adjoining streets. Piraeus Bank, for example, will move its headquarters to a low-rise but spacious building at 4 Korai St. The building, recently acquired by real estate developer Dimand from Ethniki Asfalistiki (National Insurance), contains a gallery with several catering and other retail outlets and a basement arthouse cinema. It is also historically significant, having been the site of a bomb shelter requisitioned by the Germans during the WW2 occupation (1941-44), when it served as a prison and torture chamber.
Dimand plans to spend €20 million on refurbishing the building, making it LEED Gold-certified, which is very environmentally friendly, and then sell it to Piraeus Bank. The gallery will also be upgraded. Besides its HQ, Piraeus will move personnel from 19 Athens branches, reducing its branch operating costs by 50%. Alpha Bank will move its own HQ across the street from Piraeus’, having abandoned a plan to turn that office building into residences.
National Bank of Greece may not be planning to move its own headquarters, but it does plan to develop the old Athens Stock Exchange building, which it bought in 2020.
