A business that began in Spata in 1946 and, at its peak, employed around 80 people is now closing its doors for good. At the premises of KOKO Grigoriou S.A. on Agios Thomas Street, where generations of local residents have worked, plans are afoot to build a hotel with around 100 beds, according to councillor Filippos Argyros.
Mr Argyros, an independent municipal councillor for Spata–Artemida, worked for the company for 23 years. In his post, which was republished by iRafina on Monday 19 October, he writes that a few years ago the premises had been taken over by a bank and that, in his view, it was sold at a low price to a company with foreign interests. He does not mention the buyer’s name or the purchase price.
What was KOKO Grigoriou?
The company was founded in 1946 and developed into an import and retail business specialising in decorative items, interior furniture, lighting and gift items. It later expanded into hotel supplies and tourist goods, which it supplied to businesses throughout Greece. For decades, its warehouses were one of the few large workplaces within Spata itself, long before the airport transformed the local economy.
Dozens of comments were posted beneath the post. A local resident who has written a short story about the factory recalls that, from its foundation until the early 1970s, it played a very significant role in the economic and social life of the area. The Spata Women’s Association notes that it was there that the first women from Spata worked in a factory. A former employee, who joined the company in 1987 at the age of 22 and left in 2009 having started a family with four children, writes that whatever is built there, whenever he passes by he will see ‘the warehouses of KOKO GRIGORIOU SA’. Another, who worked there from 1989 to 1994, says he feels sad every time he sees the site abandoned.
What the town planning regulations stipulate
On 8 October, the Spata–Artemida Building Authority issued a works permit for the complete demolition of 26 buildings, with a total area of 7,806.29 square metres, in Block 7 of Spata, at the junction of Agios Thomas, Thermopylae, King Constantine II and Diagoras. The buildings had been regularised as unauthorised structures under Law 4495/2017. The deed lists Piraeus Bank as the owner, with 100 per cent full ownership. The application was handled by the engineering firm BUILDWISE SP.
The document makes no mention of KOKO Grigoriou. The location in Agios Thomas, the size of the buildings and the bank as the owner all match Mr Argyros’s description, but we have no official confirmation that this is the same property. If the sale he refers to has already taken place, it does not appear in the YDOM records.
We were unable to find a planning permission for a hotel in Spata amongst the documents from the Directorate of Urban Planning and Development (YDOM) that had been published on the ‘Diaugia’ transparency portal as of 19 October. A new building of this size requires its own planning permission, which is published once it has been granted and will specify the project owner, the floor area and the number of beds.
A 100-bed hotel in the centre of Spata, near the airport, would be one of the largest tourist establishments in the municipality and would transform the character of a part of the town that is currently mainly residential. We will monitor the planning application once it is submitted.
Source: post by municipal councillor Filippos Argyrou, as published on iRafina on 19 October 2026; Spata–Artemida Urban Development Plan, approval for the execution of works 2144439/08-10-2026 (ADA RTTO46Ψ842-ΩΥ2, Diafania 9 October 2026).
