The old and aging building at the junction of 3rd September and Chalkokondili streets , at number 36 in the heart of Athens, is going to get a new image very soon, with a rooftop swimming pool and 42 small apartments, so that it will function as “smart” from this year hotel .
Accordingly, also at number 12 Chalkokondyli, at its junction with Kaningos, the new “Athens Key Hotel Trademark Collection by Wyndham” has been operating for a few weeks, and specifically from December 2022, in place of the old “Kaningos 21” , which had shuttered in 2010 due to inability to pay the rents by the tenant at the time, a victim of the crisis experienced by Athens tourism at the beginning of the last decade.
This is the new 4+ star hotel, the brand new venture of Zeus International Hotels & Resorts by Haris Siganos in collaboration with the Trademark brand of the American hotel giant Wyndham, a “twin” that first took the risk seven years ago and operated in at the end of 2016 the 5-star hotel “Wyndham Grand” and then the “Wyndham Residence” in Karaiskaki Square, one of the so-called “difficult” areas of the center of Athens .
“We want to contribute to the development of the wider area of Omonia , both through the investments we make and through the collaboration with the Municipality of Athens, developing programs and activities for residents and visitors”, says Mrs. Irini Panagopoulou in “business stories”. director of the company Finders TMI, owner of the new “smart” hotel under development at Chalkokondili 36, also setting the mark of investors’ expectations for the wider area, looking forward to its upgrade.
“We believe that we can act as a catalyst for change in the region”, states Mr. Haris Siganos , already having the valuable experience from the group’s activity in Karaiskaki Square, adding that “the momentum for the Greek capital, which it’s still behind compared to other European urban destinations, that’s a positive.
For a few weeks now, at the junction of Chalkokondili and Kaningos, the new “Athens Key Hotel Trademark Collection by Wyndham” has been operating in place of the old “Kaningos 21”. The new hotel has 76 state-of-the-art single and double rooms, as well as the “Athens Key Rooftop Bar Restaurant” overlooking the Acropolis and Lycabettus Hill.
The city is changing, it has a tourist stream, it has high seasonality in the summer months according to the standards of resort destinations and we see additional – even nuggets – of tourism in the winter months as well, characterized by the period of last December, during the holidays, which was the best, historically, season for the city.
What Athens lacks is a clear strategy with important and policing, which is more intense in the summer, but lacking in the low season in the winter, while at neighborhood level, for the so-called less “easy” areas, everything is lit up it can significantly change the conditions, it’s just that the city is hardly illuminated in its neighborhoods.”
Finders TMI
As for Finders, founded a few years ago by the Israeli businessman Amir Mamou , it manages five private investment funds for investments in real estate, including houses, shops, hotels and in general tourist properties , having already created a significant portfolio with investments of more than 40 million .euro, mainly around the Omonia area but also in Crete.
Finders TMI (Tailor Made Investments) , with headquarters in Israel, has been active in our country since 2014, having started real estate markets in probably the… worst period for domestic real estate, when everything was collapsing, and today has two offices, in Athens and Rethymno.
One of the main reasons Greece was chosen as an investment , apart from the attractive real estate prices (especially at the time the company started buying), is the proximity – less than a two-hour flight – which allows greater familiarity and control of the property.
Its founder, Amir Mamou, has been active since 2000 in the field of management and operation of investment properties in Israel, while precisely in the context of the search for investment opportunities in real estate, he was one of the co-founders of Broom Service, a luxury property management company in Israel. Finders TMI was founded in the previous decade “with the rationale of searching, developing and promoting unique investment opportunities in real estate in Greece”.
The main activity of the company focuses on the purchase, renovation and resale of real estate located in the area of Omonia and, as Mrs. Panagopoulou states, “since its establishment, it measures more than 37,800 sq.m. under her management, more than 120 satisfied clients, while approaching 90 real estate transactions.
We have consciously focused on Athens in the real estate market around Omonia , considering that it is now an area with significant development prospects, due to the continuous rise of tourism in the Greek capital, but also the general investment interest around the area”.
For a few weeks now, at the junction of Chalkokondili and Kaningos, the new “Athens Key Hotel Trademark Collection by Wyndham” has been operating in place of the old “Kaningos 21”. The new hotel has 76 state-of-the-art single and double rooms, as well as the “Athens Key Rooftop Bar Restaurant” overlooking the Acropolis and Lycabettus Hill.
This is already becoming more than evident especially recently, even with the restart of tourism in Athens after the pandemic, with not a few new hotels having started their operation or being in the planning stage and new initiatives being promoted in the wider area , starting with the renovation plan of the decommissioned, since 1998, “Mignon” property in Patision up to the planning for the cultural upgrade of the street with the new National Archaeological Museum.
Since 2021, Finders has expanded its activities, investing in the reconstruction of some of its buildings with the aim of converting them into hotels with apartments for short-term rental as well as housing for students.
One of its main projects, the largest currently underway, is the complete renovation of one of its privately owned buildings at 36 Chalkokondili Street & 3rd of September in Omonia, which is developing on 2,000 sq.m., with 7 floors and a terrace with unlimited views of Acropolis and Lycabettus.
The project is being upgraded from its architectural study to a Smart Apartment Hotel, with 42 apartments from 27 to 52 sq.m., with a swimming pool on the roof, as well as co-working spaces to serve the so-called “digital nomads”. but also of residents who wish to work in a well-structured workplace.
The company has created a well-structured business infrastructure employing more than 20 people in different fields, such as legal advisers, notaries, accountants, civil engineers and other specialties related to its actions”, states Mrs. Panagopoulou.
By the end of this year, Finders TMI would ideally like to have around 80 renovated apartments in operation for short-term rental in independent buildings and scattered around Omonia, while the plan by 2024 is to add to its portfolio around 40 apartments , with ongoing property purchases – negotiations are already taking place at this time for three other independent property purchases around the square Omonia and for around 20 apartments.
At the same time, she has posted sales notices in properties in her portfolio, for example in Theater Square, in Veranzerou, in Marni, on Charilaou Trikoupi in Exarchia, etc.
Purely in the tourist real estate in Crete, a small seaside hotel in the area of Rethymno was recently purchased, which will be converted into 8 small villas, while negotiations are also underway for two other plots of land with a similar development model in Chania.
The new Athens Key Hotel
Accordingly, Haris Siganou ‘s Zeus International is now placing another bet in the center of Athens, with the brand new “Athens Key Hotel Trademark Collection by Wyndham”, in an insurance property that it leased in 2018, for a period of 30 years, with a long-term concession contract in in the context of the competitive process carried out at the time by the Professional Insurance Fund – Remedial Insurance for Insurers and Insurance Company Personnel (TEA-EAPAE).
The group’s new venture in a part of the city for which more concerted efforts are currently being made to gradually renovate it (the redevelopment of MINION a few meters away that has already begun is indicative of the latter) is coming to its most mature phase of Zeus, which from a tourism and hotel management company is steadily transforming into a key player in the field of hospitality and premium resorts.
Now having over 1,000 rooms in 7 privately owned hotels , around 1,500 rooms on long-term leases (all over 15 years), but also around 1,300 rooms in luxury hotels whose owners trust their management, with a total of rooms in short that reaches 4,000, “is now an integrated brand in the premium hospitality sector”, as Mr. Siganos characteristically states, with the value of Zeus’ hotel portfolio under management exceeding 1 billion euros.
Finders TMI is renovating the old building at 36 Chalkokondyli Street & 3rd September in Omonia with the aim of operating this year as a “smart” hotel with a rooftop pool and 42 small apartments. The hotel will also have co-working spaces to serve so-called digital nomads, as well as residents who wish to work in a well-structured workplace
As for the “Athens Key Hotel”, Zeus undertook the complete renovation of the 3,500 sq.m. building. , however its operation was delayed due to the pandemic, ultimately changing the utilization plan for a more upgraded final product after the 3.5 million euro renovation.
The new hotel on Chalkokondili Street has 76 ultra-modern single and double rooms as well as the “Athens Key Rooftop Bar Restaurant” overlooking the Acropolis and Lycabettus hill. With 21 luxury hotels in top destinations in the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Romania), Zeus is aiming for a 20%-25% growth in turnover this year, around 110 million and 50 million euros gross operating profit.
The company has already implemented during the last six years investments totaling 150 million euros and now wants to create authentic hospitality experiences for all kinds of travelers with the motto “A Zeus experience”.
Outside of Athens, for the 2023 season, two of Zeus’ top projects are the brand new “Ajul Luxury Hotel & Spa Resort” in Halkidiki, with a total investment of 40 million euros and prospects for further expansion, and the fully renovated “Wyndham Grand Crete Mirabello Bay” in Crete, two luxury units “that will form the basis of the targeting of the company’s product in the coming years “, as stated by Mr. Siganos.