Keranis plant finally to get more tenants

The Greek state has taken the best part of two decades to make better use of one of its most important real estate assets, having included it in a portfolio of 28 properties for sale in a 2014 tender. This year the former Keranis cigarette factory in Piraeus will finally get some more tenants after a long period of failed efforts.

According to officials at NBG Pangaea, the company which won the sale and leaseback tender by state sell-off fund TAIPED, a number of public services will be moved into the building on Thivon Avenue in the next few weeks, including the Migration Policy Ministry. It follows a decision to that effect last November by Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos.

Over three years since the sale of the property, with the state paying rent of 2.65 million euros per year to Pangaea, the Keranis building has only accommodated the General Secretariat for the Management of Private Debt and the Independent Authority for the Examination of Prejudicial Cases. The two agencies only occupy 14 percent of the building’s available space. Next month the 2nd Healthcare Department of Piraeus and the Aegean will also move in.