With the floors of the Riviera Tower and not only, rising day by day at Ellinikon, another construction year is coming to a close for LAMDA Development. With work, as the company’s CEO Odysseas Athanasiou recently pointed out, proceeding as planned in the face of a difficult construction market.

But what are the firsts at domestic and international level, which the Ellinikon project has already achieved and still aspires to achieve with the progress of the works, according to what has been known and made public so far:

1. The first city in Greece with zero environmental footprint:The city’s energy needs will be covered by renewable energy sources. All residences without exception will be “smart” and green. Sensor networks, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications will use data, predicting building and infrastructure maintenance needs, detecting faults at an early stage, saving costs, energy and natural resources.

2. The first “15 minutes city” from the ground up in Europe and Greece: Residents and visitors will be able to live their daily lives with distances covered on foot or by bicycle within 15 minutes. This approach promotes healthy living and sustainable mobility.

3. The largest park in Greece (Ellinikon Park), one of the largest seaside parks in the world with an area of 2,000 hectares. Already delivered is The Ellinikon Experience Park, a sample of the new park, with over 3 million visitors. It will be the first park in Greece to be SITES certified, a certification for sustainable and resilient outdoor spaces.

4. The largest shopping complex in Greece and one of the largest in southern Europe: The Ellinikon Mall is 1.5 times larger than The Mall Athens, with 280 new generation stores of the most popular and up-and-coming Greek and international brands. The development will boost the local economy and create new jobs.

5. The tallest green residential skyscraper in the Mediterranean, 200 meters high. It aspires to be the new landmark of the new city. The new city has since turned 50,000 square meters, since the start of the construction of the new city.

6. The Visitor Center, the largest of its kind in the world: The Experience Center has already been delivered to the public, allowing visitors to discover in depth the great project of Ellinikon’s redevelopment and travel into the future, in a sustainable, smart and innovative city. This experience enhances public understanding and support for the project.

7. The European-level model building for people with disabilities: Completed in full as part of the Ellinikon redevelopment within one year. It consists of four model buildings, with a total area of 11,500 square meters, and was constructed in a tree-lined area of seven acres. The complex, a 15 million euro donation by LAMDA Development, is already the new home for four clubs, showing its commitment to accessibility and social responsibility.

8. The largest urban tree transplantation in Greece: Already about 3,000 trees, which were located within Ellinikon, have been protected, transplanted in special nurseries, preserved, and in due time will be returned back to Ellinikon. This process enhances the biodiversity of the area.

9. The biggest bioclimatic change with simultaneous infrastructure shielding: The ratio until recently of 70% cement-30% green area is reversed, to 70% green cover, radically changing the bioclimate of the entire area. At the same time, the largest city foundation flood control and other infrastructure projects in the country are proceeding at a rapid pace, strengthening the resilience of the region to climate change events.

10. Building the largest alliance of Greek and foreign groups from each sector of economic activity to create the project: Something that Ulysses Athanasiou had pointed out at an unsuspected time long before the work began. The alliance is now strengthened year after year with the entry of strong international and domestic companies, as well as with the repatriation of human resources that left our country during the crisis, strengthening innovation and development.

Finally, the largest of its kind integrated tourist and entertainment complex in Europe and in Greece: An investment of more than one billion euros, with 3,000 jobs. It will be the only integrated tourist complex of its kind in Europe. It is being built within Ellinikon by GEK Terna and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Athens. This development will offer new opportunities and will strengthen the tourism industry of the region.