The property sits at 23 Vasilissis Sofias Ave., roughly 1,300 feet from such historic landmarks as the Presidential Palace, Greek Parliament and the Maximos Mansion, the office of Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
“(The asset) is one of Athens’ most highly prized and prestigious addresses in the center of the capital,” Paul Gomopoulos, Hines’ Greece regional head, said in a prepared statement. “With strong demand from international organizations and global corporations, the building offers attractive long-term yield. We are actively looking to invest in other high-quality office assets and development opportunities within Athens.”
The building has a tenant roster of Mastercard, the Embassy of Brazil and the Embassy of Portugal.
Hines established a Greece presence in 2014. Since that time, it has acquired around $70 million worth of assets, including the Athens Ledra Hotel, which was rebranded as a Grand Hyatt hotel once the company completed extensive renovations. That acquisition was done in partnership with Henderson Park.
Overall, the company has been in Europe for 28 years and has seen its European platform increase to 55 cities in 13 countries.
The Greece office market
According to the latest quarterly U.S. and global commercial property monitors from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Greece joins Portugal, Hungary and Spain as some of the top performers for tenants and investors of commercial real estate.
However, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s fourth-quarter office market snapshot of Greece, though there is positive momentum being seen, the country is still recovering somewhat slowly. The report stated that with the 2019 general election approaching, political risk has increased and various questions linger over the banking sector, impacting the market.
Still, it projects the office sector should remain active, with core assets being the most in demand.
source: cpexecutive.com
