Theo Maras: the Greek who changed the “heart” of Adelaide

A native of a mountain village on the island of Ikaria, he was among the most influential businessmen in Australia. Expatriate Theo Maras owns a number of properties and is leading a project to modernize the iconic Adelaide Central Market.

He was born in the village of Arethusa, on the island of Ikaria, on May 16, 1948 and came to Australia in 1952 with his parents at the age of only 4 years. Shortly thereafter, when he was 7 years old, little Theo sat in the back seat of a horse-drawn cart and watched his parents, Joanna and Stamatis, sell fruit and vegetables at the Adelaide Grocery Exchange. “My parents would get up at 4 a.m., pick fruits and vegetables, and come to the East End. My job was to sit in the cart and make sure no one touched the food boxes,” he tells the salife website. com.au.

From bricklayer’s assistant to architect and then businessman

At the age of 14, Theo entered the labor market, taking a part-time job as a mason’s assistant. His physique was ideal for manual labor, so he excelled in construction. However, his grandfather, who never went to school and could not read or write, said that the only way out of poverty was education.

So after graduating from Nailsworth School and then Gillis Plains School, Theo graduated with a degree in Architectural Design and Building Technology. His first full-time job was with Millers Lime and Timber before moving on to Wowich Industries in Elizabeth where he designed prefabricated houses. But he had to get into Chappell and Associates in the late 1960s to understand that businessmen, not architects, were in power. That’s when he thought, “I don’t want to be an architect, I want to be a businessman. But how do I get from point A to point B? I had a dream and I needed a strategic plan.”

First deals
In 1972 he opened the first offices of T Maras and Associates on Ward Street in North Adelaide. By that time, he had married Helen, with whom they had three children. They bought their first house in Croydon, which they refurbished and sold for a further profit. The next house was in Netherby, from which they profited again. Theo then bought five lots of waterfront land in West Beach for $35,000. “We built them up and sold them separately for $60,000. It was hard. I worked hard, seven days a week, but that was the only thing I could do.”

Eventually investors began to trust Theo with their real estate portfolios and his business began to grow. The next big deal was a large apartment building in St. Mary’s. He sold the land for a profit of $420,000, at today’s value we are talking about $10 million. “This kind of deal fills you with confidence and pushes you to look for the next one, and then the next one, and then the next one. You become obsessed,” he emphasizes.

In 1980, Theo teamed up with Bill Manos, a prominent lawyer, to form Mancorp. Over the next 25 years, he developed and invested millions in commercial property along Adelaide. In 2006, he founded the Maras Group. Today, the family business owns more than 25 buildings, several of which are located in the East End. The company also owns numerous buildings in Wayville, Fullarton, Keswick, Hilton, Brooklyn Park, Torrensville, Lockleys, Prospect and Walkerville.

Now this HandMade mogul is thrilled to be spearheading a project that will radically transform the area and make Adelaide a key tourist destination for the next fifty years.

“I love, passionately love the market, which I remember from the time I went there every Saturday as a small child with my father and grandfather, as well as with many other foreign families. Therefore, the role that I take on has an emotional significance. Because historically it was expatriates, as well as Italians, who first came to Australia to create and support the idea of ​​the market as we know it at home, a concept that was unknown to Australians in the early 1900s.” , the 73-year-old businessman tells the Greek-language edition of Neoskosmos.

New $300 million project
The total cost of the new project will be US$300 million and will include, in addition to the central market, luxury hotels, restaurants and cafes, towers with 210 apartments, retail stores, a supermarket, a kindergarten, canteens with covered terraces and parking lots. “My goal is to combine tradition with the modern and the new, and create a cultural center of the highest standards, which will become a magnet and a meeting place for the younger generation, but at the same time will remind all of us, the elders, who grew up with the memory of the market, of the past. It’s a huge project but I’ve learned in my life to get things done I learned this from my grandfather Menelaus who always told me the only way to get what I want is to dedicate myself to it and do my best while I get it. He was right in the end and I am grateful to him for the life lessons he generously gave me, and also to my parents because even though the first years in Australia were extremely difficult, my family always supported and encouraged me, which was rare at the time. They gave me strength and love and taught me to be a proud Greek,” Maras says.

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