Private foreign universities to open in Athens and Elliniko

The establishment of non-state universities in our country is “just around the corner”, and interested parties are already looking for buildings for campuses.

“There is a demand for real estate that could house higher education institutions. But this is currently more of an exploratory nature as everyone is waiting for the law to come into force so that the discussion on this issue can be continued,” says Mr Dimitris Manousakis, head of Savills Hellas, a partner company of the British property group Savills Plc.

According to Mr. Manousakis, over the last period at least two foreign universities from the European Union have shown interest – albeit at an early stage – in large buildings in Athens.

However, any request that is yet to be seen, provided it is converted into action, is not limited to just finding a building. There is also a demand for land, says Mr Nikas Simpouras, head of Proprius, a real estate consultancy. In fact, Mr. Simpouras notes that little movement in this sector began to be recorded a year ago.

The multi-bill on the creation of “non-state, non-profit universities”, which caused a strong reaction from students and teachers, specifies that “the institution must be autonomous, with adequate construction infrastructure and logistics equipment, with the possibility of constructing secondary facilities within the same prefecture.”

Expected that final text The law will be presented to the plenary session of parliament on March 7, and a vote will be held the next day, March 8, when Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is also scheduled to speak.

It is noted that the bill “Strengthening the State University – Fundamentals of the activities of non-profit branches of foreign universities” includes a total of 205 articles.

At the same time, reliable information says that representatives of leading universities in the world, such as the American MIT, Yale and Harvard, gave a tour of the Elliniko megaproject, and Lamda Development employees presented them with the project plan. It should be noted that Yale and Harvard University have some collaboration with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athensthe oldest and largest public university in our country.

However, Lamda, as the concessionaire of the former Elliniko airport site, focuses not so much on higher education as onand primary and secondary education, especially with a foreign language program. In collaboration with Prodea and the Costeas-Geitonas school, an agreement was concluded with the aim of creating a modern educational organization for primary and secondary education in Elliniko (CGS Ellinikon).

In fact, according to Lamda, another foreign language school (primary and secondary education) is in the final stages of signing an agreement. The need to open foreign language schools in Elliniko is driven by increased demand for housing from foreign buyers, with Lamda sources believing this will continue to grow. According to information, 60-65% of buyers are Greek locals, 20-25% are Greeks abroad, and the remaining percentage are foreigners from markets inside and outside Europe.

Anyway Elliniko area will be one of the first where non-state universities will develop. This is due to the fact that here Hellenic Healthcare Group (HHG), owned by the investment fund CVC Capital Partners, begins to establish the first private medical school in Greece in collaboration with the University of Nicosia. HHG bought the former Olympic Catering property for €10 million and will spend a further €15 million renovating it and purchasing equipment, bringing the total investment to €25 million.

Costs are likely to increase because, according to the law on non-state universities, a university will have to have at least two more schools to obtain a license.

It should be noted that negotiations are currently underway with Lamda regarding the acquisition by HHG of additional areas adjacent to real estate that he already owns.

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