After a decade of delays, Greece moves along hotel investments worth 850 mln euros

Greece is pushing ahead with two luxury tourism investments in Crete and the Peloponnese, worth some 850 million euros, that have been caught up in red tape for more than ten years.

Permits are being issued for the Kilada Hills resort, an investment located in the eastern Peloponnese' Argolida area, and the Elounda Hills resorts in northern Crete.

Kilada Hills is at a more mature stage with Develop Minister Adonis Georgiadis scheduled to sign the construction permit on Friday for an 18 hole golf course to be included in the resort. The rest of the permits are expected to be cleared in coming days. Budgeted at 420 million euros, Kilada Hills will be built by investor Dolphin Capital Partners on a 220-hectare site that will also include a 100 room hotel, villas, and residencies, sports facilities, and stores. Real estate agents, such as Sotheby's, have already started promoting the sale of luxury villas at Kilada Hills. As an indication of the prices they sell for, an 800 square meter luxury villa with two bedrooms and four bathrooms is going for 2.5 million euros or 3,125 euros per square meter.

About a year ago, Grivalia purchased 20 property lots within Kilada Hills for 10 million euros to build luxury villas and facilities that will also meet the needs of visitors staying at Amanzoe, a partner resort also built by Dolphin.

Meanwhile, progress has also been made on the Elounda Hills investment in recent days, being built by Mirum Hellas. Including the cost of the land acquired, the investment amounts to 600 million euros. The seaside resort will be built on a 120-hectare site that will include a luxury hotel, that may be managed by Four Seasons or Fairmont. It will also include a 200 berth marina and luxury villas, where prices will range from 250,000 euros to 2 million euros. 

The building plans have been approved by the ministries involved and are currently being looked over by the Council of State, the country's top administrative court. Once this step is completed, investors will then submit an environmental impact study on the resort within the next 12 months, in the final step of the process.