Source: Greekreporter
Greek-Australian Nick Andrianakos has, for the first time, invested in a major shopping center, acquiring half stake worth over 135 million Australian dollars ($95.5 million) in Adelaide’s Colonnades Shopping Centre.
The deal comes almost half a century after the Greek migrant bought his first petrol station in 1973 and later went on to create the 54-asset Milemaker chain of petrol stations.
According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Andrianakos, who emigrated to Australia from a village outside Tripoli in Greece’s Peloponnese 50 years ago as a young man, sold the fuel retail business to Caltex in 2016 in a AU$94 million deal.
He retained the real estate to include in the growing commercial property portfolio of the family’s Nikos Property Group.
“The opportunity to acquire a substantial shopping centre such as Colonnades that is professionally managed by Vicinity is a good opportunity for us and helps diversify our investment holdings,” Nikos chief executive, Theo Andrianakos, said in a statement to The AFR.
Nikos Property Group has been steadily increasing its exposure to the Adelaide market, acquiring a CBD office building at 50 Flinders Street in 2020 from Cbus Property for AU$175 million after two years earlier buying its companion tower, linked by bridges, at 60 Flinders Street from Lendlease for AU$101.35 million.
Andrianakos donates to the Greek-Australian community
Andrianakos is also involved in the Greek-Australian community and has made substantial donations to the community. In 2020, he committed to offering a 10 to 15-acre property for the Melbourne drug rehabilitation center, as well as a donation of AU$1 million to kick-off its operation.
“I love to share money. Since my early youth I felt a strong obligation to help others, particularly young people, without ‘fuss.’ For many years now, since 1982, I could see young people suffering terribly from the curse of drugs and I didn’t like that at all,” he told the Greek Media Group at the time.
Publicly thanking Andrianakos, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios announced that a chapel will be built in honor of his contribution inside the center dedicated to St Nicholas while the events hall will be named after the Greek-Australian benefactor.
“I truly take my hat off to his sensitivity and unique generosity,” Archbishop Makarios stated, following an event last week where Andrianakos was conferred with “the Order of Christ-loving” medal as a token of appreciation for his contribution.
