A revised plan for the redevelopment of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) grounds will contain fewer buildings and a 12-hectare park.
The initial plan, submitted by the fair’s organizers, TIF-HELEXPO SA, had raised significant objections, not least from the municipality of Thessaloniki itself, which owns a small part of the grounds.
Objections centered around what was considered excessive building: TIF-HELEXPO had wanted to build a hotel and a business center, in addition to two new exhibition pavilions.
The hotel and business center, with a total planned area of 49,000 square meters, are missing from the revised plan, ensuring the approval by the city of Thessaloniki of the leasing, at no cost, of the part of the grounds it owns – a little over a hectare – to the fair organizers for 99 years. Thessaloniki Mayor Stelios Angeloudis will submit the deal to the city council for its expected approval Wednesday.
A city official has told Kathimerini that TIF-HELEXPO has agreed to build, besides the two new pavilions, an underground parking space for 1,000 vehicles and will undertake the upkeep of the park, which will be open to the public year-round.
