Its first hotel venture is being prepared in Serifos by the DNA Hospitality Group with an investment of approximately €5 million that provides for the construction of a five-star unit at the location “Mouria,” in the Kalo Ampeli area.
The plan concerns the development of a hotel with a capacity of 36 rooms and 94 beds with swimming pools and outdoor recreation areas, which is at the stage of environmental licensing, according to the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) that has been submitted for the project.
The investment vehicle is DNA Hospitality Group P.C., in which Dinos Alexakis and Alexia Valentina Sheinman each participate with 50%. According to the EIS, both have the management and representation of the company.
The project
The investment is planned on privately owned land of 18.7 stremmas, outside the town plan and outside settlement boundaries. The planned building area amounts to approximately 1,497 sq.m. and includes a central reception building and four room sections. The complex provides for one shared and 19 private swimming pools, which will serve 20 of the rooms, as well as outdoor activity areas. The unit is planned to operate five months a year, from May to September, with approximately 20 employees during its operating period.
Of particular importance for the course of the licensing is the location of the property within the protected Natura 2000 area “Southern Serifos.” For this reason, the EIS is accompanied by a Special Ecological Assessment. According to the study, the design is based on small building volumes, plantings and planted roofs, with the aim of integrating the complex into the natural landscape.
A separate issue for the operation of the unit is water supply. Although there is a municipal network in the area, according to the study the Municipality cannot guarantee the supply of the total quantity that the unit will need.
The company has submitted an application for the licensing of boreholes within the site, with estimated total pumping of up to 3,000 cubic meters annually. The municipal network is envisaged as a supplementary source, while for wastewater a treatment installation and reuse of the treated water for irrigation are planned.
In the relevant EIS it is stated that the development cost is estimated at approximately €5 million, with the building facilities corresponding to approximately 60% of the amount. The sources of financing mentioned are support through the development law, in combination with bank lending and/or own funds. According to the study, the investment plan was included by a 2021 decision in an aid regime for small and very small enterprises, without the amount of the aid being specified at the relevant point.
“Specifically regarding the financing of the hotel unit, the development entity of the unit has received approval from the Directorate of Development Laws of the General Directorate of Private Investments (now the General Directorate of Development Laws and Foreign Direct Investments) of the General Secretariat for Private Investments (GSPI) for financing of the investment under the development law,” it is noted.
Until the submission of the EIS, the project had received a positive opinion from the Architectural Council for the morphological study, pre-approval of the building permit from the Milos Building Service and approval of construction from the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades. Therefore, environmental licensing and the issuance of the final building permit are the next steps before the investment moves to the construction phase.
Who is behind the investment
The plan in Serifos has been maturing for years. As early as 2022, Alexia Sheinman had publicly referred to the development of a hotel on the island together with Dinos Alexakis. Along the way, the company collaborated with Hotel Solutions Partnership (HSP) on the strategy of the new venture. The collaboration included, among other things, the positioning of the hotel in the market, the operating model and the options for attracting investment capital.
At the same time, the company states on its website that it is seeking investors for the accommodation under development, without, however, presenting a final financing scheme for the project.
In its presentation, DNA links its activity in the hospitality sector to the experience of its founders in design, marketing, wellness and hotel management. It also describes the property under development as its first accommodation on the Greek islands.
D. Alexakis has served as head of Selina in Greece and general manager of Hotel Arena in Amsterdam, while Al. Sheinman is a director at Pembrooke & Ives, an interior design company based in New York.