By A. Tsiblakis
An ambitious plan to turn the port of Piraeus into a “Maritime City”, a project proposed almost a decade ago but abandoned abruptly amid the economic collapse in Greece after 2009, appears to have been rekindled in the wake of Chinese multinational Cosco’s acquisition of the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) over the summer.
Cosco’s “master plan”, as repeatedly cited by its top managers, both in Piraeus and Shanghai, is to turn Piraeus into one of the biggest ports in the EU and into a massive all-round shipping and mercantile hub in the Mediterranean.
A first positive indication came this week with reports that the Dimand Real Estate Development firm was close to signing a 5.8-million-euro agreement to renovate an abandoned cigarette plant (Papastratos) at the port, which covers four city blocks.
The first figures thrown around press and business circles at the port refer to an investment nearing 100 million euros.
Meanwhile, sources told “N” that a tobacco museum is being planned at the site, with multinational Philip Morris mentioned as a prospective concessionaire of the facility.
The remaining 42,000 square meters of space from the proposed real estate project would include new offices, luxury loft-style accommodations, as well as retail shops, conferences halls and recreational areas.
The abandoned Papastratos plant lies on the Kondyli seafront at the port of Piraeus, where numerous office buildings belonging to some of Greece’s best-known ship-owing concerns have their headquarters.
While state-controlled Cosco is focused on implementing Beijing’s ambitious commercial strategy, known as the “One belt, one Road” policy of funding infrastructure projects to connect Eurasian trade by land and sea, real estate development within and around the Piraeus Port Authority appears to have piqued the multinational’s interest.
Cosco sources told “N” that a new feasibility study for real estate development at OLP has been commissioned, with more and bigger projects reportedly being considered.
Besides the cargo shipping, ship-repair, cruise ship and manufacturing sectors, the Chinese multinational is reportedly eying the prospect of building a modest hotel, conference and exhibition center in the port authority zone, in the initial phase.
