The Ellinikon Sports Park spans roughly 287,000 square meters on the site of Athens' former international airport and is set to open to the public in mid-2026.
The Sports Park hosts its first public event on June 25, 2026, a head-to-head super special stage that opens the EKO Acropolis Rally Greece.
Riviera Galleria, designed by architect Kengo Kuma around a concept he calls The Ripple, will hold more than 100 retail and dining outlets across two levels.
LAMDA Development reports interest from about 17,000 prospective buyers across 110 countries, and the wider project will nearly double green space in the Athens metropolitan area.
The Ellinikon, the largest urban regeneration project in Europe, is preparing to open its Sports Park on the Athenian Riviera, a roughly 287,000-square-meter destination built for athletes and residents alike on the grounds of Athens' former international airport. The park brings football, basketball, tennis and padel courts, an outdoor athletics track, an aquatics center, and open-air training areas into a single public space within The Ellinikon Park, the 2-million-square-meter coastal park anchoring the development. Developer LAMDA Development reports interest from about 17,000 prospective buyers across 110 countries, a measure of how closely the global market is watching the project take shape. The Sports Park is scheduled to open to the public in mid-2026, with its first public event arriving on June 25 as the launch stage of the EKO Acropolis Rally Greece. Rather than treating athletic venues as standalone facilities, LAMDA has folded elite training and everyday recreation into the same landscape, placing physical activity at the center of how the new district is meant to be lived in.
The Sports Park combines competition-grade facilities with spaces meant for casual use. Alongside the football pitches, basketball academy, tennis and padel courts, and athletics track, the plan includes a recovery center, athlete accommodation, and open-air fitness areas designed for residents and visitors of all ages and abilities.
The result is a single environment where professional training and weekend recreation share the same ground. By pairing open green space with structured sports facilities, LAMDA has designed the park to read as part of the neighborhood rather than a venue that residents visit and leave.
Before its full opening later in 2026, the Sports Park hosts its first public event on June 25, when it becomes the launch venue for the EKO Acropolis Rally Greece. The opening super special stage runs 1.86 kilometers on asphalt in a dual-layout format, with two cars racing side by side, giving the World Rally Championship round a high-profile Athens curtain-raiser before crews head into the gravel roads that built the rally's reputation.
Debuting the park with a championship motorsport event signals LAMDA's plan to activate The Ellinikon in phases, opening sections to the public while construction continues elsewhere on the site. It also strengthens Athens' standing as a host city for international sporting events, expanding the city's place in sports tourism.
The Sports Park is designed to anchor The Ellinikon's version of the 15-minute city, the planning model in which daily needs sit within a short walk of home. Residents and visitors will be able to reach athletic, recreational, and wellness facilities within a walkable radius, so movement becomes part of the routine rather than a destination in itself.
By combining open green space with structured sports environments, the development removes the usual separation between professional athletics and everyday recreation. Families, athletes, and visitors share the same ground, and sport functions as an everyday utility rather than a scheduled outing.
Beyond sport, the wellness strategy at The Ellinikon treats recreation, biodiversity, and public health as part of the operating infrastructure of the district. The Sports Park sits within a larger system of paths, courts, training zones, and rest areas designed to function across seasons rather than serve as ornamental green space.
With backing from LAMDA Development, the project demonstrates how private capital can deliver public amenities at scale. The facilities are built for all ages and ability levels rather than elite athletes alone, a choice that broadens who the new district is for.
A parallel piece of the master plan is Riviera Galleria, the retail and dining destination designed by architect Kengo Kuma. At the center of the design is a concept Kuma calls The Ripple, an undulating translucent roof that shields visitors from sun and rain while keeping the connection to the sky and the sea. The canopy draws on traditional Greek reed shading screens and on the masts and sails of the Aegean, built from a blend of fabric and wood.
Set within The Ellinikon, the galleria integrates circulation, landscape, and commerce into one continuous space across two levels. The architecture favors natural materials and shaded comfort, so the space stays usable through the Greek summer and the cooler months alike.
Riviera Galleria will hold more than 100 outlets, mixing international luxury houses, emerging designers, and premium Greek labels with a substantial dining and cafe component. LAMDA reports that Heads of Terms agreements already cover a significant majority of the gross leasable area, an early read on demand for the new district.
The project reads less as a conventional shopping mall and more as a mixed commercial and cultural quarter where retail, dining, and leisure sit together under one roof. The integration of architecture, landscape, and commerce reframes the visit as time spent in a place rather than a single errand.
Among large urban regeneration projects, The Ellinikon stands out for its scale and its private-sector delivery model. Built across 6.2 million square meters on the former airport site, the development is expected to contribute to Greece's long-term economic growth while nearly doubling green space in the Athens metropolitan area, with more than a million native trees and plants planned for the coastal park.
By bringing residential, commercial, sports, and cultural uses onto a single site, LAMDA is building an interconnected district rather than a collection of separate developments. With Kengo Kuma's galleria and the Sports Park among its first public-facing pieces, The Ellinikon is reshaping a stretch of the Athenian coastline that sat unused for two decades.
Inspired by what you read?
Get more stories like this—plus exclusive guides and resident recommendations—delivered to your inbox. Subscribe to our exclusive newsletter
The products and experiences featured on RESIDENT™ are independently selected by our editorial team. We may receive compensation from retailers and partners when readers engage with or make purchases through certain links.