Investors pick sites in Crete’s giant holiday resort projects - Planned developments to operate year-round as havens for tourists
The biggest and most complex tourism investment in Crete concerns a 25 sq.km. plot on the Sidero peninsula, on the northeastern tip of the island. The unspoiled plot belongs to the Toplou Monastery.
Investments of more than – 1.6 billion 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.
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 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.
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 Siteia.
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 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.
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Quelle: http://www.ekathimerini.com/ [03.03.07]
Man kann gar nicht soviel fressen wie man kotzen möchte. :kotz:
K.M.