Greece is getting a giant mall

Retail complex is part of $8B project near Athens

Rendering of The Ellinikon Project in Greece with Lamda Development CEO Odisseas Athanasiou (The Ellinikon, Lamda Development, Getty)
Rendering of The Ellinikon Project in Greece with Lamda Development CEO Odisseas Athanasiou (The Ellinikon, Lamda Development, Getty)

The distressed state of shopping malls hasn’t dissuaded a developer from building Greece’s largest retail complex.

Lamda Development is leading an $8 billion project that spans a range of property types in service of a 30,000-person mini city, the Wall Street Journal reported. One component is a 2 million-square-foot retail hub, the nation’s biggest.

The project, south of Athens at the site of Ellinikon International Airport until it was closed in 2001, will include waterfront condos and villas, a large marina, a 500-acre park, hotels, offices, schools, sports fields, a casino and an exhibition center. The first phase is expected to be completed by 2026.

Rendering of The Ellinikon Project in Greece (The Ellinikon, Getty)

Rendering of The Ellinikon Project in Greece (The Ellinikon, Getty)

The retail complex is being broken into three parts. A retail strip along the Aegean Sea will feature enclosed stores and high-end boutiques. A mall will have more mid-priced stores, restaurants, offices and entertainment options. The third component will include big-box stores such as IKEA.

Lamda CEO Odisseas Athanasiou has touted his company’s success in Greek malls. Athanasiou said the company’s malls have a 100 percent occupancy rate and reported record sales numbers this year.

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Nevertheless, a mall development is a risk in a pandemic era that decimated retail assets, shopping complexes most of all. While in-person retail is rebounding in the U.S., malls aren’t doing as well. 

The mall will rely on Greek businesses to distinguish the complex from malls that tourists have already traipsed through elsewhere. Athanasiou plans to mix local and international brands and expects more than a million tourists per year.

The development has a long way to go to reach its target date. The Ellinikon site consists only of a park and a 400,000-square-foot visitors center, where people can eat, shop and take a virtual tour of the smart city set to come in a few years.

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— Holden Walter-Warner