The Council of State (CoS) approved the start of a $165 million investment plan by Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev on the island of Scorpios off the coat of Lefkas to turn it into a luxurious VIP tourist unit.
The businessman plans to attract some of the biggest names in showbiz, as well as some of the wealthiest tycoons in the world.
The sole heir of legendary Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Athena, transferred Scorpios in the spring of 2013 for 100 million euros to the Russian billionaire, who in turn immediately began to set his plans for his tourist unit into motion.
Last January, the Central Board of Governors for the Exploitation of Public Property unanimously approved the Strategic Investment Spatial Development Plan for the “construction and operation of a luxury VIP Exclusive Club on the island of Scorpios of the Municipality of Meganisi, Lefkada, Ionian Islands” with a total area of 831,885 sq.m.
The investment includes a 5-star and 60-bed luxury hotel, consisting of 12 buildings, a two-storey pink house, a bathers lounge, a spa, an amphitheater, a screening/projection room, living rooms, communal areas, entertainment and recreation facilities, a playground, yoga spaces, a beach volley, swimming pools, an artificial lake, a heliport, a seawater desalination plant, a wastewater treatment plant, a power plant, a large road network, poultry farms, a farm, a vineyard, an orchard, vegetable gardens, etc.
There will also be a multi-sports facility on three levels (basement, ground floor, and 1st floor), which includes a gym, bowling area, indoor shooting simulator space, 5×5 football fields, tennis equipment of international standards, as well as shooting and riding activities, and an open-air riding arena.
According to estimations, Scorpio’s luxury villas will be leased at an average of 20,000 euros a week.