Furnished apartments in the historic Mignon will become available to permanent residents of the city after the completion of the ongoing renovation project of the building. “Since we bought the property about 15 months ago, we have received dozens of messages from interested parties, Greeks in the Diaspora as well as Athenians, asking if we are thinking about building apartments in the area. In connection with this interest, we have studied the corresponding possibility and decided to use part of the complex for this purpose,” Dimitris Andriopulos, managing director of Dimand Real Estate, told K.

Based on the building permit received from the company, it is planned to use one of the areas of the complex for the construction of approximately 30-40 apartments. They will be furnished and will meet high quality standards, and the area will be from 60-65 sq.m. and up to 85 sq.m., i.e. with one or two bedrooms. It is also possible to create one or two more apartments with an area of ​​125 sq.m. every. As for selling prices, although nothing has been decided yet, it is expected that they will exceed 2000-2500 euros/sq.m, depending on the property. This price is estimated within the market, taking into account that these will be fully furnished and equipped houses, in a completely renovated building, both inside and out. The residential complex will be located at a point independent of the rest of Mignon, at the intersection of the pedestrian streets of Satovriandos and Doros. The apartments will stretch from the first to the last floor.

As Mr. Andriopoulos explains, “Obviously, they will be addressed exclusively to permanent residents. They do not want the area around Omonia Square to become a tourist area. On the contrary, we want these houses to appeal primarily to the Greeks and permanent residents of Athens. At the first stage, we plan to sell apartments, but we do not exclude the option of renting out, always with long-term contracts, and not through digital platforms for short-term rental, ”says the head of Dimand.

The apartments are mainly for bachelors and young couples with well-paid jobs. Young entrepreneurs, freelancers or start-ups (i.e. start-up company executives) who want a place close to their work where they can stay and work will be the main target audience for Dimand.

Of course, other use cases are planned for the new minion. According to the plan developed by the company, in fact, a multifunctional support will be created. In addition to the residential character, which will occupy about 4500 sq.m., 6500 sq.m. will also be developed. offices, 6,500 sq.m. shops, but also 1000 sq.m. places of public catering and entertainment (restaurants, bars, cafes, etc.). Shops will occupy the lower floors (ground floor and possibly the first floor), while offices will occupy the upper floors. Dimand is currently negotiating with two interest groups to lease a significant area of ​​the building (anchor tenants). One of them concerns office premises to be created, and the other concerns commercial premises, but without a supermarket chain.

They will be addressed exclusively to permanent residents, while the scenario of a lease with long-term contracts is not ruled out.

The total investment, together with the purchase of the building, is expected to exceed 50 million euros. The purchase price was 26 million euros, the cost of the reconstruction of the building is expected to be the same amount.

Mignon was taken over by Folli Follie in the 2000s, a few years after the death of its founder and owner, Ioannis Georgakas. The original intention was to reopen as a department store, but this plan did not come to fruition. Then, in 2012, a lease was signed with the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. However, this agreement was never implemented, and the property remained unused, until Folli Follie had financial problems and the need to liquidate his property to reduce the company’s debts. Dimand himself has been following the events around Mignon since 2006. Today, the listed company believes that there are significant prospects for the reconstruction of buildings in that part of the center, which includes Patision Street, Omonia Square, Kotsia Square and Aiolu Street.

Recall that in the spring of 2022, Dimand opened a four-star hotel Moxy on the square. Omonia, at 65 Stadiou Street, in cooperation with the EBRD and Prodea Investments, which acquired the property management company. This is the building of the former Sarolio mansion, with an area of ​​11,300 sq.m., where the Athenian magistrate was housed in the past. The property is owned by the Army Capital Fund (62%) and the Armed Forces Officers’ Club (28%) and is assigned to the “car” company Rinascita Dimand-EBRD and Prodea, which won the corresponding tender for the right to operate. for a period of 25 years, renewable for another 25 years. The investment to renovate the building and turn it into the first LEED-certified green hotel in the center of Athens amounted to 25 million euros.

The revival of Mignon is expected to be added to a series of initiatives aimed at reshaping the image of the axis of Patision Street (currently October 28), starting with the reconstruction and expansion of the National Archaeological Museum, the use of the site that once housed the Athenaion summer cinema, the reconstruction of the OTE building and pedestrian street Tositsa, behind the National Technical University.

Another recently announced move concerns the modernization of the Maria Callas House. As it became known last month, the four-story building built in 1925, located at the intersection of 61 Patision and Scaramanga streets, will be completely renovated to house the Maria Callas Academy of Lyrical Art. . The project will cost around 6.8 million euros and will revive the place where the Greek soprano lived with her family when she came to Athens from 1937 until 1945 when she returned to New York.

Numbers

55 million euro total investment (purchase and renovation)
6 500 sq.m. shops will be created on the first floors of the complex
6 500 sq.m. offices in other parts of the facility
4 500 sq.m. residences in an autonomous part at the junction of two sidewalks at the rear of the complex
1000 sq.m. dining and entertainment areas that will frame the redevelopment
30-40 furnished apartments for sale or rent to permanent residents of the city