In 2023, investments in Greece hit a new record high purchase of commercial real estate (offices, shops, hotels and logistics), as, according to estimates by the company Proprius, they exceeded 2 billion euros, marking an increase of 22% compared to 2022. This is a particularly positive development, which is due, almost exclusively to domestic investors who proved particularly mobile.
The most popular category was office buildings, a sector where a total of €780 million was invested, followed by hotel/tourism properties, which attracted €500 million of investment. An additional 425 million euros were invested in retail and real estate and another 300 million euros in industrial real estate/logistics.
“During 2023, we saw large-scale transactions being completed, such as Alpha Bank’s Project Skyline, Intrum’s Project Tethys, as well as other important moves, such as e.g. the acquisition by the National Bank group of a series of properties”, says Mrs. Niki Sympoura, head of Proprius, a real estate consulting company, which represents Cushman & Wakefield in the Greek market.
Project Skyline involved the transfer of a portfolio of 573 properties belonging to the Alpha Bank group, valued at €440 million. Dimand Real Estate, Premia Properties and the EBRD were 65% buyers of the new company created for the exploitation of these properties, while the remaining 35% is still controlled by Alpha Bank itself.
Respectively, Project Tethys involved the sale of a portfolio of 72 hotel properties of Intrum Hellas, which were acquired by SMERemediumCap, Latonia Enterprises – Athanasios Laskaridis family office and WHG Europe Limited – Brown Hotels. It is an alliance between the family office of the Laskaridis family, Mr. Nikos Karamouzis, as head of SMERemediumCap, and the hotel group Brown Hotels. The amount of the transaction is estimated to have exceeded 250 million euros.
Another important move in the market concerned the sale of the Smart Park commercial park, from REDS of the Ellactor group to Trade Estates AEEAP of the Fourlis group. The value of this sale amounted to 115 million euros.
He also proved to be particularly mobile the National Bank group, which invested 300 million euros in the repurchase of dozens of properties, which it had transferred several years ago to Prodea Investments (then National Pangea AEEAP). The two largest properties purchased by National Bank are the historic building of the Athens Stock Exchange, at 10 Sophokleous Street, which was sold by the Papalekas Group, which in turn, had bought it at the end of 2020 from Prodea Investments. The value of this transaction is estimated to have reached 67 million euros.
At the same time, Ethniki is currently completing the repurchase of a total of 43 of its properties, for a total price of 237.2 million euros. The largest of these, amounting to 83.2 million euros, concerns the IT Center of the group in Gerakas.
According to Proprius’ analysis, the amount of investments made last year is a particularly positive event, amid the negative climate in most European markets, due to expensive borrowing, high inflation and the two wars that continue to rage in Europe and Middle East. After all, this is the main reason why foreign investors are mostly absent from the transactions that took place.
They moved more conservatively
At the same time, private equity funds such as Dromeus and Brook Lane Capital, which were particularly active in previous years, moved more conservatively last year, focusing on upgrading existing properties. At the same time, most real estate investment companies (REITs) turned mainly to privately owned real estate development projects, as one of the “defenses” implemented by their managements against soaring financial costs.
According to Mrs. Sympoura, “as far as the course of investments in 2024 is concerned, I estimate that they will fluctuate at a similar level to last year, perhaps even a little higher with even more and larger investment agreements. The return of foreign investors is also expected.
The recent securing of the investment grade by the Greek economy will also contribute to this”. Regarding the real estate categories that will be in the greatest demand, Ms. Sympoura estimates that offices will continue to be a “bone of contention”, as there is a significant shortage of new and “green” buildings, compared to demand. In other words, it is the real estate category that offers the greatest opportunities. At the same time, there is also a significant stock of older buildings, which can be acquired at low cost and upgraded, in order to “unlock” significant capital gains and ensure even more income for their new owners.
