Looking for cash in every corner to offset a crushing economic crisis and to reduce its $460 billion debt, the Greek government is selling the London townhouse where its consul lives, and is asking for a minimum $35 million, the news agency Bloomberg reported.
The luxury home is one of six overseas properties the government is planning to sell to reduce its crushing $460 billion debt and as harsh austerity measures are being imposed on workers, pensioners and the poor.
Greece has pledged to generate 11.1 billion euros ($15 billion) from privatization deals by 2016 to meet conditions tied to foreign aid. So far, only about 1.8 billion euros, ($2.44 billion) has been realized as the government has been accused of dragging its feet.
Real estate makes up about 75 percent of state assets and Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras said that proceeds from property transactions, not budget cuts, should be used to improve Greece’s finances as tax hikes have backfired, causing a decline in revenues in January of more than $1.05 billion.
A spokesman for the country’s state privatization fund confirmed the pricing of the London home and declined to further comment, Bloomberg said. Greece’s privatization fund last week selected NCH Capital Inc. to develop a strip of land on the Greek Island of Corfu under a 99-year concession. NCH, a private-equity firm, pledged to invest 100 million euros ($135.6 million) as part of the deal.
Other properties the fund is selling include an 8,000 square-meter strip of land in Nicosia, Cyprus, for a minimum of 5 million euros ($6.78 million); an eight-story office building in Brussels with a minimum bid price of 3.3 million euros ($4.47 million); and a four-story building in Belgrade for a minimum of 2 million euros ($2.71 million) sources told the news agency.
The London property is a 115-year-old Victorian townhouse with 947 square meters (10,000-square feet) of space, according to the fund. Holland Park is in Kensington & Chelsea, one of the U.K.’s most-expensive boroughs.
The fund has also selected London & Regional, Elbit Cochin Island Ltd. and Lamda Development for the second round of bidding to buy a majority stake in Hellenikon to develop the site of the former Athens International Airport. At 6.2-million square meters (20.34 million-square feet,) the site is more than three times the size of Monaco.
It was supposed to become Europe’s largest park but now is planned mostly to be paved over and developed with buildings and little green space. The prime property sits at the edge of the sea on Athens’ southern coast.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
