Athenian Riviera Casino Resort Gets Green Light

A casino resort to be the first building erected at the Agios Cosmas marina along the Athenian Riviera within an eight-billion-euro project to develop Hellenikon, Athens’ former airport, got the go-ahead by the finance ministry on Monday with licensing awarded following the announcement of an international tender.

According to reports, Hellenikon property managers Lamda Development and Hellinikon Global I announced plans to begin with the casino project which will include hotel facilities in order to bring in immediate revenues.

The draft bill, which was tabled in parliament on Monday, foresees the possibility of licensing as well as methods of securing taxation of income derived from short-term property rentals (within a sharing economy focus).

The bill also provides for the relocation of the Parnitha ‘Mont Parnes’ Casino outside the municipal limits of Athens 18 months after the publication of the law.

The Hellenikon project — to include a metropolitan park, shops, offices, sports and conference facilities, luxury hotels, theme parks, museums, malls, cultural venues, health centers, educational and research facilities and marina — was given the green light by majority vote in Greek parliament in September and is expected to bolster Greek tourism by one million tourists a year and employ some 70,000 people.