Creating one of the greatest logistics hubs, about 120,000 sq.m. in Northern Greece and in particular in Thessaloniki, is being launched by Dimand Real Estate. According protected information “K”, a few days ago, the listed company bid to buy the property of the former Balkan Export of the Mechanics group in an auction process, with Cepal acting as forwarder. This is an area of ​​355.6 hectares, which Dimand plans to turn into a logistics center. The purchase price of the property was 6 million euros.

The move also marks Dimand’s more general move towards the strategic development of high value-added logistics infrastructure in the suburban areas of both Attica and northern Greece in general. The company’s goal will be to create infrastructure such as cold stores, data centers or research and development (R&D) centers that will be integrated with logistics. In this regard, in the first half of this year, a significant percentage of new investments in the purchase of land and building space accounted for this type of property. In particular, in May last year, the company acquired two land plots of 69 and 4 acres, respectively, in Megara, Attica, for the amount of 2.8 million euros intended for the development of logistics. A similar use is expected in the area that the company will be developing in collaboration with Premia Properties AEEAP in Peania, where up to 33,523 sqm can be built. At the same time, the company acquired the capacities of the Athens Paper Mill in Drama (Sebastia prefecture) and Kavala (Heraklitsa prefecture), which have a similar focus. These are four properties in Drama, with an area of ​​632, 66, 56 and 178 acres, respectively, which were purchased for 5.1 million euros, and another, with an area of ​​70 acres in Kavala, which was purchased for 600,000 euros.

He has applied to purchase the 355.6-acre former Balkan Export property.

Dimand’s total investment in the first half of this year is estimated to have exceeded 40 million euros, just for the purchase of new land and property for development. To date, the company has launched 18 real estate investment projects that are expected to generate more than €665 million in sales revenue between 2022 and 2024. These are office buildings, mixed-use buildings, hotels and residential buildings. By the end of this year, the company is targeting over €20 million in sales revenue as it will hand over the office building leased by Kaizen Gaming (Stoiximan) and agreed to buy out Prodea Investments.

In the first half of this year, the Dimand group’s turnover increased by 56% to 4 million euros, mainly due to an increase in income from the provision of investment management services. Gross profit increased by 88% to 1.23 million euros, and profit before tax reached 1.1 million euros, compared with a loss of 5.82 million euros in the corresponding half of last year. Key to the return to profitability was a EUR 8 million gain on the revaluation of real estate investments to fair value (from a loss of EUR 2.28 million last year).