News - Crete Property Investment

05 June 2008 - New Heraklion Airport Gets the Go Ahead
Crete aims at the construction of the new airport with an investment equal to 1.2 billion Euro, the Greek Environmental Minister for the Public Work and Planning, G. Souflias, said yesterday. The minister reported the call for bids will be published in 2009. The construction of the new airport will be in the Kastelli location, and will replace the current "Nikos Kazanzakis" of Iraklion, the second most important airport of Greece.

09 May 2008 - Minoan appeal hearing over Cavo Sidero environmental approval postponed
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Minoan Group Plc. said the hearing of an appeal lodged against the Greek government regarding environmental approval for the company's Environmental Impact Assessment for the Cavo Sidero project in Crete has been further postponed by the court until Nov. 7.

28 Feb 2008 - Zoning Plans Watered Down
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis gave the green light yesterday to the government’s new national zoning plan that will soon be tabled in Parliament.
The final version of the zoning plan has been watered down from the original draft, dropping limitations on construction activity outside of town-planning districts.
Unregulated construction activity outside town-planning areas is often responsible for illegally built homes eating into the country’s shrinking forest areas on city limits. However, Environment Minister Giorgos Souflias said the government is working on putting together a national forest registry in a procedure expected to take four years.

Investors pick sites in Crete's giant holiday resort projects
By NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU - Kathimerini
Investments of more than 1.6 billion euros for the development of tourism resorts and housing are about to be implemented in Crete, following years of planning.
They concern integrated complexes which combine holiday houses, hotels, golf courses and complementary installations such as restaurants and sports facilities. The aim of the project is not just to attract high-income tourists, but also to prolong the tourism period.
The biggest and most complex development concerns a plot of 25 square kilometers on the Sidero peninsula on the northeastern tip of Crete. This is one of the most debated-over projects due to the size of the investment, estimated to come to 1.2 billion euros.
The plot belongs to the Toplou Monastery, with the development and operation undertaken by a British investment group, Minoan Group (former LoyalWard), since 1995 for the next 80 years.
After 11 years of trying, the company late late month received the official approval of its environmental study, opening the way for the first infrastructure projects to start, scheduled for this May, while this fall the construction of buildings will begin.
The plan provides for the building of just 1 percent of the whole plot, with the creation of six tourism villages of holiday houses, three four- and five-star hotels and some supplementary sports and cultural facilities. The resort will have a total capacity of 7,000 beds, although originally the plans had provided for 12,000 beds. The total construction will reach 255,000 square meters, 65 percent related to houses.
Cavo Sidero is expected to start operating in 2009, but works will continue until 2017, when it will be completed. It will also include two golf courses, which will support the resort's effort to operate throughout the year. The project's funding will be made exclusively through bank loans, while Minoan has already invested 40.3 million euros for the development of the project (in the form of successive share capital increases).
Another important investment, although significantly smaller, has been planned since the end of the previous decade by Iktinos Technical and Tourist, which will develop a tourism resort of 2 sq.km. at Faneromenis Bay, near Sitia in Crete, budgeted at 130 million euros.
Evangelos Haidas, the firm's chairman, suggested that the company's environmental study and construction plan had been approved. Works are expected to begin in late 2008. The plan includes the creation of a five-star hotel with 700 beds, a marina hosting 85 yachts, a 500-people conference hall and 300 holiday houses. The second stage of the project includes the creation of an 18-hole golf course and a new holiday village of 500 houses.
Cypriot company DolphinCI Thirteen Ltd participates in the development as a main investor and shareholder. It is a 100 percent subsidiary of Dolphin Capital Investors, listed on the London stock market's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Dolphin controls 80 percent of Iktinos Hellas's subsidiary, Latirus Enterprises Ltd, which control Iktinos Technical and Tourist, the owner of the plot in Sitia.
Another important investment is that of the Fotiadis group from Cyprus at Aghia Galini, south of Rethymnon in western Crete, on a 1.6 sq.km. plot. Emerald Developments, a Fotiadis subsidiary, will invest 310 million euros in the development of a resort with dozens of holiday houses, two five-star hotels and a golf course.
It will also include a conference center and more sports facilities.
Another investment at Cavo Plako in Eastern Crete by EAAK SA is at a preliminary stage. It concerns a 4 sq.km. plot owned by Dakis Joannou, one of the main shareholders of J & P Overseas construction firm.
Its planning includes hotels, houses and a golf course.