The Ellinikon megaproject will reach its first operational milestone in July when developers open the primary phase of a 120-million-euro athletic park to the public, marking the moment Europe's largest urban regeneration scheme shifts from construction site to living city.
The partial opening covers the core facilities of the 287,000-square-meter Ellinikon Sports Park, built by engineering consortiums AKTOR and METKA to replace the aging Agios Kosmas National Youth Sports Center.
The complex includes a 400-meter outdoor stadium with 1,070 seats and a World Athletics Type 1 certified track, a throwing field, six soccer pitches, two basketball courts and two tennis courts.
A 124-room residential lodge for visiting international athletic delegations opens alongside the sports facilities.
Before public integration, the park will host a super-special stage of the EKO Acropolis Rally within the complex — giving the site its first high-profile public exposure.
"Unlike historic Olympic venues that remained restricted to professional federations, this infrastructure is designed for multi-use civic co-existence," said Odisseas Athanasiou, chief executive of master developer LAMDA Development.
Mr. Athanasiou confirmed that an Olympic-sized outdoor swimming center will complete construction by November, bringing the full athletic campus to operational capacity by late 2026.
The July opening triggers a cascading delivery schedule across the wider site. In December 2026, the repurposed Olympic canoe-kayak lake and initial sections of the Metropolitan Park are due for handover.
In 2027, LAMDA targets completion of the premium Riviera Galleria shopping complex and the first coastal residential blocks.
The University of Nicosia medical campus and the Hard Rock Integrated Resort Casino are scheduled to open by late 2028.
At full build-out, Ellinikon will represent the most ambitious transformation of urban coastal land in modern European history.
By Maria Kaloudi