By Vasso Vegiri
The Thessaloniki area’s hotel sector continues to attract Israeli interest in real estate, whereas eastern Macedonia and Thrace, further to the east, has attracted attention by mostly small-to-medium sized Turkish investors.
The development comes in the wake of the latest inauguration of a four-star hotel in coastal Katerini (Pieria prefecture) over the weekend, owned and operated by the Pavlidis family, which is primarily known for the import and trade of medical equipment.
The new unit features 50 rooms overlooking a large pool area, and 10 suites with private pools. The same company recently debuted a bungalows complex on the foothills of Mt. Olympus, also in Pieria prefecture.
In Thessaloniki proper, a noteworthy trend of renovating preserved buildings in the city’s historic center into “boutique” hotels is underway, with “N” recently presenting figures showing investment interest by Israeli companies. The development also comes after plans were concluded to build a Holocaust Museum in the area of the old Thessaloniki train station.
Thessaloniki once hosted the world’s biggest Sephardic community, which was almost completely annihilated during the WWII occupation (1941-44) by Nazi and Axis forces.
One such historic building is the “Caravan Sarai”, which for decades housed town hall, north of the Hoca Bey mosque (15th century), better known as “Alcazar”.
Another historic building attracting the attention of Israeli investors is the “Vienna” house, on 2-4 Egnatia Avenue, which initially served as a hotel when it was built in the early 1920s.
During the occupation, the same building was used as a headquarters for collaborationist units and even the German military administration “Kommandantur” in the city.
Meanwhile, other reports pointed to increasing investments by Turkish SMEs on the holiday island of Thassos and the adjacent Kavala coastline, either with new units or the purchase of already open hotels and rooms to let.
