Ellinikon was Athens’ international airport until 2001, then the 2004 Olympic complex, then twenty years of derelict venues on 620 hectares of coastline eight kilometres from Syntagma. The Hard Rock resort is the piece that makes the redevelopment’s numbers work, and it will be the first integrated resort in continental Europe when it opens.
Project Scope
A 195-metre tower carrying 1,100 guest rooms, 15 restaurants, convention space, a casino floor and a Hard Rock Live theatre sized for up to 4,000 people. GEK Terna holds the majority position alongside Hard Rock International, which operates the property and holds the licence. Gensler is the design architect, listing the job as the Hard Rock Integrated Resort Complex Ellinikou. Groundbreaking was January 2024 against a 2027 opening.
One number worth watching: the casino programme is currently reported at 150 tables and 1,500 machines, down from the 200 tables and 2,000 machines announced when the GEK Terna and Hard Rock partnership formed in 2022. The smaller figures are the more recent, but neither has been confirmed by a licence document we can see, and gaming floor counts move around late in these projects. Treat both as indicative.
The general contractor has not been publicly confirmed. TERNA S.A., GEK Terna’s construction arm, is the obvious candidate given the ownership, but we are not going to print it as fact until someone does. Structural and MEP consultants are likewise unannounced.
Why It Matters
Greece has never had a resort casino at this scale, and the licence was written to attract one. What is being tested here is whether a single anchor asset can carry a 620-hectare masterplan through its slow years, because the rest of Ellinikon runs on a much longer clock than a 2027 hotel opening. The 200-metre Riviera Tower is going up on the same site, and the metropolitan park that Sasaki laid out has its own delivery schedule.
For contractors in the eastern Mediterranean it is the largest single-building hospitality package on the board, and the fit-out scope alone (15 restaurants, a 4,000-seat theatre, gaming floor, convention centre) will absorb specialist trades that Greece has not had reason to develop at volume before.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | GEK Terna S.A. with Hard Rock International; Lamda Development (master developer, wider Ellinikon site) |
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| Owner / Client | Hard Rock International (operator and licence holder) |
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| Architect | Gensler |
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| Status | Under Construction |
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| Funding Source | Private |
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