At the stage of implementation, according to the commitments and schedules set by the Municipal Authority of Athens, the visionary double redevelopment in Votanikos and Alexandras Avenue, the largest in scale spatial and urban planning intervention in the post-war history of the city, designed and implemented by the municipality of Athens, passes.

This announcement was made today-from the site where the new football stadium of Panathinaikos will be built in Votanikos – by the mayor of Athens, Costas Bakoyannis, referring to the decision to tender the stadium.

“The future has begun. The official process for the auction of the Panathinaikos Arena has just begun. No, it’s not a dream. About two hours ago, the Economic Committee of the municipality of Athens made history, with the decision to approve the tender issues”, stressed, starting his speech, the mayor of Athens.

Answering a journalist’s question about the timelines of the construction of the stadium, Mr. Bakoyannis said: “I am always very careful with my words and I count them. The answer is that it is perfectly possible to enter the new stadium in 2026. That is also our goal. Beyond that we have a course ahead of us with a number of bureaucratic issues. It is never easy or smooth to auction a very large project, but it is an auction, which is absolutely shielded…”.

Regarding the body and the implementation process, more broadly of infrastructure projects, he said: “I want to say something that is not customary in Greece. We will not play any game by throwing the ball of responsibility and competence, left and right. It is our responsibility, it is the responsibility of the municipality of Athens to deliver the stadium, deliver the infrastructure and do it on time. It is a bet that we have made and a bet that we will win”, said the Mayor of Athens.

The significant development of the auction of the stadium, which came after the approvals of the environmental terms and the financing of the project by the competent Ministries, gave the “green light” for its start, confirming the constant effort to meet the schedules of the procedures.

“The processes to start the precursor work by Christmas are progressing in parallel. In other words, a little patience even soon where we are today, the bulldozers will work”, said Mr. Bakoyannis, in the context of the press conference, which was presented in the presence of the veteran athletes of Panathinaikos Mr. Mimi Domazou, Totti Fylakouri, Nikos Sarganis, Spyros Livathinos, Nikos Karoulia, Apostolos Kontos, Michalis Gerothodorou, Antonis Antoniadis, Takis Economopoulos, George Alexopoulos but also by the younger generation of Panathinaikos, the FR. Angelos Basinas and Yourkas Seitaridis.

He explained the reasons why the interview was organized in the area of Eleonas:

“On the one hand, so that you can see-in fact – that when we talk about the Olive Grove, we are essentially talking about the wider center of Athens. Just three kilometers from Omonia, ten minutes by car. A few hundred meters from the Metro Station of Eleonas. Do not forget that the Greek state has already invested in the area: half an hour as calculated from every point of Attica with fixed track means. On the other hand, to see with your own eyes and experience the harsh reality of Elaionas. We have come to account for decades of abandonment and indifference. Look around you: unregulated construction, lack of basic infrastructure, empty industries, vacant or untapped land, few inhabitants. Cement, rubble, garbage. Delinquency, lawlessness, darkness”, said Mr. Bakoyannis, giving a brief description of the current situation in Eleonas. He added: “a sleeping giant is Elaionas. A sleeping giant who is waking up today.”

The project of double redevelopment, the program of which was published last February, will create two hyperlocal-Metropolitan recreation and sports poles in Votanikos and Alexandras Avenue. This is a station project that will grow the city and offer Panathinaikos its new football “home”.

“Two decades now, you’ve heard a lot of words. Many promises, many announcements and at the same time you have experienced many disappointments and many disappointments. Suspicion, distrust, cynicism rightly prevailed. That’s changing. Today the works are talking. Double redevelopment passes at the stage of implementation-from theory to practice. Whatever you knew, forget it”, emphasized the Mayor of Athens.

Catalyst for the development of Botanic the new stadium

With” vehicle “the new state-of – the-art arena of Panathinaikos, Votanikos, This Old Industrial Area of Athens-which has been in abandonment for years, deprived of basic urban infrastructure and Green-will be” sanitized ” urban, will acquire modern infrastructure (opening of new roads, enlargements of existing ones, etc.) common areas (sidewalks, islets, tree planting) and green spaces. In this privileged position, just 3 km from the city. away from Omonia, Votanikos will develop into an upgraded neighborhood of Athens, in which hundreds of millions of euros are to be invested.

“The city of Athens is expanding and a new city is being created, a modern city with all the criteria of sustainability and sustainability. Suffice to say that our plan for the Olive Grove provides for a little less than 50% of greenery. In other words, what has gone wrong with Athens in the last 200 years, let’s do it right in Eleonas”,said the mayor of Athens with emphasis.

The new ultramodern stadium overlooking the Acropolis

The aim of the municipality of Athens is to create a modern and functional stadium, which will meet the Greek and international requirements of FIFA–UEFA Category 4, with a capacity of at least 38.500 seats (up to 40.000).

The arena will include 1,300 seats in suites, 325 underground parking spaces and 7 commercial stores.

The national team-men and women – of our country will also be able to compete in its facilities.

In 2026, where we are today, a modern and functional stadium will be erected. [ … ] A stadium with a worldwide exclusive privilege: not only is it located in a historic place, but it has a far-reaching visual reference to the Acropolis hill. A stadium overlooking the Acropolis”, underlined Mr. Bakoyannis.

The Arena in Votanikos has been designed to reflect the dynamics of the city to which it will join. The new stadium of Panathinaikos aspires to meet the goals of state-of-the-art stadiums in terms of infrastructure and technology, attracting visitors, not only to watch sports competitions, but also to tour the building itself, the restaurants, the shops and the entertainment venues. The goal is through the creation of ideal conditions for recreation, to stimulate the bonds of the fans with the team, but also to return the families to the stadium.

Project budget

The construction budget of the new stadium amounts to 123 million euros. euro (including VAT). Funding for the construction is secured by the Public Investment Programme and the recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF).

The municipality of Athens, as the contracting authority, auctions with an open international tender at the same time the design and construction of the stadium, in order to save time.

Major spatial and urban intervention

The project of double redevelopment is a major spatial intervention, as it upgrades two extremely urbanized neighborhoods of Athens, a short distance from the historic center. The interventions extend to 200 acres in Votanikos and about 21 acres in Ampelokipi.

On Alexandras Avenue, the implementation of the intervention ensures a large ” lung “of greenery in the” heart ” of Ampelokipi. The historic stadium will give way to a free space for the citizens, but also to a sports museum through which the glorious and long history of Panathinaikos on the Avenue will be kept alive. In the same area, it is planned to create an entrance hall and an underground parking.

More than two years of systematic work until today’s auction

After about a decade of waiting and stagnation, The Current Municipal Authority of Athens, managed to overcome many bureaucratic obstacles and reach the stage of auctioning the stadium.  It took, however, more than two years of systematic work, detailed studies and extensive discussions with the parties involved, the implementing bodies, four ministries and the European Commission.

“We wouldn’t have gotten this far without teamwork,” Mr. Bakoyannis and addressed his thanks to the competent team of the municipality: “a big” thank you ” to our whole party, to the deputy mayors and municipal councilors, and especially to the competent-great- team of the municipality with the General Secretary Alexandros Tsiatsiamis, the Deputy Mayor, Vassilis Axiotis, the legal advisor, Natasa Simou and the technical advisor Vassilis Fakitsa, who collaborated with numerous teams of Engineers, environmentalists, economists, transport engineers and lawyers, as well as the former general director of technical works of the municipality Vagia Touri, who collaborated with our technical service. We needed approvals of ministries, collective bodies, councils and committees, without whose contribution we would not have reached today’s big step of the auction”.

Mr. Bakoyannis did not fail to thank all those who have been involved in the procedures for the implementation of the project. “I want to say a big “thank you” to the Minister of Development Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, – who also won a bet today – to the Minister of State, George Gerapetritis, to the Deputy Minister of Finance Theodoros Skylakakis, to the Deputy Minister of Environment Nikos Tagaras, to the Deputy Minister of infrastructure George Karagiannis. And of course a big “thank you” to our partners: Panathinaikos, Mr. Giannis Alafouzos, the amateur Panathinaikos and Panagiotis Malakate, and AEP Eleonas”.

Closing his speech, the mayor of Athens said:

“Today we took a very big step. We can take a deep breath. But from tomorrow, work again. Because we still have a long way to go. According to our roadmap, as agreed in the framework of the contracts we presented a few months ago, the auctioning of the infrastructure, the facilities of the Amateur are pending, among other things. We have to stick to our schedules.”