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Hellinikon Casino to Be Completed in 36 Months Says Mohegan

Casino at Hellinikon
An architectural model of the proposed casino at Hellinikon. Credit: Lamda Development

Construction of the casino at Hellinikon, the site of the old Athens airport, will be completed in 36 months, said CEO of Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment (MGE) Ray Pineault on Friday.

The company CEO discussed the investment at the 6th Delphi Economic Forum, which is being held under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Pineault said that the project at the former Athens international airport in Helllinikon is the  the first integrated tourist complex with casino (IRC) in Greece. It is not just a casino, but a large tourist investment, a milestone in the history of MGE, he added.

“Ellinikon is a project that will change the region. It will attract many visitors on an annual basis and will bring a 10 percent increase in tourism in Attica.

“In addition, it will generate about 7,000 new jobs and will bring many millions of tax revenue to the Greek State,” Pineault said.

Regarding the completion of the casino at Hellinikon, the Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment CEO said that there are several procedures that need to be completed, and along with the construction time, this will take 36 months.

“The project will be inaugurated in 2025-26,” Pineault assured Forum participants.

The Hellinikon is the largest redevelopment project in Europe

The Hellinikon project involves the massive redevelopment of Athens’ former airport.

The casino, which was designed after the architectural history of Greece, is just a small portion of the redevelopment project.

The 1,500-acre Hellenikon Airport site along the Athens Riviera, which sat abandoned for almost two decades, will eventually house shopping malls, hotels and residences under a 99-year lease with the state.

The ambitious Hellinikon plan amounts to the largest redevelopment project anywhere in Europe at the present time, and it will also include hotels, casinos, and high-end restaurants and boutiques on its spacious grounds.

The complex will be developed within and around two main towers, one 200 meters (656 feet) and the other 100 meters (328 feet) tall.

According to the consortium’s bid it will include a super-luxury hotel with 3,450 beds. This corresponds to some 1,700 rooms, market sources estimate. That would be by far the largest five-star hotel, not only in Attica but also in the country, and among the largest in Europe.

Besides the 120,000-square meter (1,291,669 square foot) hotel, the consortium will develop a conference and exhibition center of 23,700 square meters (255,104 square feet) and a sports and cultural center with a capacity for 10,500 people which could host anything from concerts to soccer games.

The casino itself will cover 15,000 square meters (161,458 square feet) the maximum surface allowed by a presidential decree.

“There will be a metropolitan pole of global appeal which … will showcase Athens as a tourist destination, a business hub and a spot of recreation in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region,” Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said after Parliament ratified the contract for the Hellinikon in March.

Overall, the project is expected to create 75,000 jobs and bring about 14 billion euros to state coffers over 25 years of construction, he said.

Delphi Economic Forum

The Delphi Economic Forum is a nonprofit, member-driven organization, committed to deliver and promote innovative ideas for sustainable and competitive growth for Europe and the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.

This is the sixth year of the forum and as it did last year, it is taking place online due to measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Normally, it takes place at the ancient city of Delphi.

More than 1,000 confirmed speakers from Greece and abroad are attending this year’s forum.

Political, economic, business, academic, and other thought leaders exchange and promote views in an effort to address emerging challenges and influence the national and regional agendas during the Forum.

The attendance of the online Forum is free by registering at this link.

 

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