On 14 September, the Spata–Artemida Building Authority issued pre-approval for a building permit for a ‘new two-storey building to be used as a data centre’ in Plot E41 of the Spata Business Park, within the block bounded by Varnali, Seferi, Polemi and Engonopoulou. It is the second building of ‘Data Centre Olive’, the 80 MW data centre being planned by Dromeus Capital and Apto, a company founded by the American firm PIMCO, through Greco Mi Real Estate Investments. For the first building, on the adjacent plot E54, the same authority had granted pre-approval on 12 January.
The E41 building is the larger of the two: 19,242 square metres on a plot of 40,154 square metres, with a height of 14 metres and 60 parking spaces. The E54 building is planned to cover 12,112 square metres on a 22,345-square-metre plot, with a height of 11 metres. Together, they exceed 31,000 square metres, almost three times the 10,790 square metres of the data centre being built by Microsoft in the same park.
Preliminary approval is not yet a full planning permission. It confirms that the plan complies with the planning regulations for the area and is valid for two years. As the document itself notes, for the final planning permission to be issued, the following are required: the opinion of the Central Council of Architecture, approval from the Archaeological Services and the Civil Aviation Authority, and approval of the transport links. The issue of antiquities is not merely a formality: according to the environmental permit, trial excavations on the E54 revealed antiquities within the plot.
The decision approving the environmental conditions issued by the Decentralised Administration of Attica, dated 19 January 2026. Two buildings housing server rooms and offices, 40 cooling units on the rooftops and 14 air-handling units, 40 backup generators on the ground, next to the buildings, with a diesel tank, and a 150 kV substation that will connect the complex to the electricity transmission grid. The 80 MW represents the maximum demand from the grid. According to reports in February, the calculated load is 46 MW, the first phase costs €300 million and is due for completion in 2028, whilst the total investment amounts to €770 million.
The Spata–Artemida Municipal Council had said ‘no’ twice. On 23 September 2025, it unanimously rejected the environmental impact assessment. The main argument was that the study calculated noise levels using a limit of 55 dB, which applies where industrial and residential areas are equally weighted. According to the Municipality, the area is predominantly urban and the limit is 50 dB. The decision also noted that the study had overlooked the settlement of Christoupoli, had not adequately examined light pollution, heat from cooling systems and rainwater, and that within the same park there are building plots designated for nurseries and schools. It proposed a noise monitoring system at the 3rd Spata Nursery School and the American College. On 1 December, following the submission of supplementary information by the company, the Council rejected it again unanimously, stating that the new analysis showed that limits were still being exceeded even with noise barriers in place.
The Municipality’s opinion is not binding. The Attica Regional Council issued a conditional favourable opinion on 27 November, as did the Civil Aviation Authority, the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, the Ephorate of Antiquities and the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Decentralised Administration approved the project.
The approval does not specify a decibel level. It stipulates that noise levels at plot boundaries must not exceed the limits laid down in Presidential Decree 1180/1981, that generators, pumps and cooling systems must be soundproofed, and that a certified body will carry out measurements around the perimeter. It provides for soundproof screens around the generators and dense planting along all boundaries. With regard to schools and nurseries in the area, the decision ‘requires’, within the framework of corporate social responsibility, that their acoustic comfort must not be compromised. It does not specify a deadline. It also stipulates that flood defence works and the stormwater drainage network must be completed before the buildings are finished.
The residents of Christoupoli submitted their views on three occasions during the process. In February, according to press reports, they lodged an administrative appeal with the Ministry of the Environment and announced that they would take their case to the Council of State by 19 March, requesting a binding limit of 50 dB around the perimeter. To date, it has not been made public whether the application has been submitted or what stage the process is at.
For residents of Spata and Artemida, the landscape of the area is changing rapidly. In the same park, Microsoft received the third renewal of its licence on 21 September, and the PPC–Damac data centre opposite Smart Park is due to be completed, according to the developer, by 2026. Olive is the largest of the three and the only one to have received unanimous approval from the Municipal Council. The next step is the final planning permission for the two buildings.
Source: Spata–Artemida Building Authority, preliminary approvals for building permits dated 12 January 2026 and 14 September 2026; Decentralised Administration of Attica, decision approving environmental conditions dated 19 January 2026; Spata–Artemida Municipal Council, decisions 144/2025 and 198/2025 (Diafania).
