ATHENS, October 2026 — The Ellinikon skyscraper has reached its full 200-metre height on the Athens Riviera, but Greece’s first skyscraper is still dividing opinion.
The B1M, a London-based construction video channel, examined the Ellinikon skyscraper on Wednesday 14 October 2026. Fred Mills presents its YouTube video, “The Skyscraper That’s Dividing Europe”. The video sets the tower against a city famous for protecting its historic views.
Foster + Partners designed the tower with Alexandros N. Tombazis and Associates Architects for Lamda Development. It stands within The Ellinikon, the redevelopment of Athens’ former international airport and the Agios Kosmas coastal front.
Why the Ellinikon skyscraper needed special approval
At 200 metres and 50 floors, the Ellinikon skyscraper is the tallest building ever constructed in Greece. The Ellinikon’s Riviera Tower residences page lists 173 homes, although Lamda’s corporate site gives 170.
Height is the heart of the argument. According to The B1M, buildings in Athens are usually limited to about 32 metres to protect sightlines to the Acropolis. As a result, the Ellinikon skyscraper rises more than six times above that limit.
Instead, the Greek Government granted the site an exception for buildings up to 200 metres, the video explains. The tower goes right to that maximum, while the nearby Hard Rock integrated resort is planned at about 197 metres.
Athens has gone higher before, though. Height limits were relaxed during the military dictatorship of 1967–74. Because of that, the 103-metre Athens Tower in Ampelokipoi was completed in 1971. Lamda announced the building permit for the Ellinikon skyscraper on Wednesday 10 August 2022.
From abandoned airport to building site
Ellinikon International Airport served Athens until 2001, when the new Athens International Airport opened. Afterwards, the runways, terminals and several 2004 Olympic venues sat largely unused for almost two decades.
The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) launched the tender in 2012 as part of the state’s privatisation program. Lamda signed a share purchase agreement for Hellinikon SA, the company holding the land, on Friday 14 November 2014. The total price was €915 million.
However, the deal did not close until Friday 25 June 2021, when HRADF received the first €300 million instalment. Since then, very little of the old airport has survived around the Ellinikon skyscraper.
The site covers 6.2 million square metres, roughly three times the size of Monaco. At its centre, Lamda is building a two-million-square-metre park, about 40 per cent larger than London’s Hyde Park.
Even so, some history remains. Part of the modernist former terminal will become an exhibition space, The B1M reports. Similarly, a Boeing 747 is expected to become a museum exhibit.
The economic case for the project
Supporters see the project as proof of Greece’s recovery after the debt crisis. HRADF and Lamda both put the total investment at €8 billion.
In particular, Lamda projects 85,000 new jobs and €14 billion in tax revenue. It also expects a contribution of about 2.5 per cent of GDP. By comparison, HRADF gives a more cautious estimate of 1.5 to 2 per cent.
Demand has also been strong. Lamda reported that cumulative proceeds from property sales and leases at The Ellinikon passed €1.5 billion by 28 February 2026.
The Ellinikon skyscraper reached its full height in July 2026, as Greek City Times reported with Lamda’s first-quarter results. In October 2023, Lamda completed the foundations with 111 piles and a 40-hour pour of 7,500 cubic metres of concrete.
At that stage, Lamda expected the tower to be finished at the beginning of 2026. Lamda now targets delivery in 2027.
At ground level, the first public element is already open. The Ellinikon Sports Park opened its first phase on Monday 20 July 2026, with free entry.
Lamda chief executive Odysseas Athanassiou stresses public access in the video. “It’s open to everybody, the beach is going to be open to everybody, the sports are going to be open to everybody,” he says.
Why the Riviera Tower still divides opinion
Opposition to the Ellinikon skyscraper and the wider project has run for more than a decade. Critics argue the state sold public land cheaply at the height of the debt crisis. At the time, Lamda was the sole bidder, as The B1M notes.
Residents and neighbouring municipalities have also mounted legal challenges, some of which continue. One group questions whether building-code deviations granted for the Riviera Galleria and the casino resort were lawful. Lamda says its opponents are unlikely to succeed.
The video also cites polling. Two years after the deal, more than 70 per cent of residents disapproved of the government’s handling, it says. A 2025 poll then found that 63 per cent opposed the tower and 41 per cent the wider redevelopment.
In May 2026, the skyline debate flared again when a photo of the Parthenon and the tower went viral. Because the Ellinikon skyscraper already reaches the 200-metre maximum, nothing taller can follow on the site, The B1M says.
Still, many believe a precedent has now been set.
For now, Greece’s first skyscraper stands at full height. The argument over what it means for Athens continues.
Watch the video on YouTube, courtesy of The B1M.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons — Dimsar01 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Alan Wilson (CC BY-SA 2.0), Steliosk0 (CC0), Ad Meskens (featured image, CC BY-SA 4.0). Video: The B1M.
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