Paphos centre undergoing renovation
I recently paid a visit to the Paphos central area in order to see with my own eyes the progress of the works and the improvements on the ground. It seems that a lot of work has been done both by the government/municipality as well as the Paphos District Administration. The project is running late, regrettably, due mainly to the objections from tenderers, the ancient finds and the non recorded underground services which came to light during the works.
This is a relatively small project but with mega problems in its execution and whereas the infrastructure is nearing the end, the much expected buildings’ renovation fell behind. This is partly due to the property owners’ unwillingness to renovate (the lack of funds in addition) the occupation of many units by statutory tenants, the Turkish Cypriot ownership (managed by the Administrator with limited means to renovate) and the local church with much property in its ownership which also seems to be unwilling to invest.
The efforts by the municipality to renovate, at least the front elevation of the buildings (by giving free of charge paint for the purpose) had limited success.
Notwithstanding these limitations, the project’s potential is gradually surfacing, but the difficult part is now, in the effort to find worthy tenants who are the main parameter of reestablishing the old Paphos Commercial Centre back to its original commerciality. The renovation of the old town follows the successful similar project of Limassol (Castle area), the Nicosia walled city and the more recent one of Larnaca old centre. So, there are examples to follow but then the Paphos administrative management (chaired by a worthy wide-minded Chairman Christos Patsalides) has now to face attracting good quality tenants.
I feel that the matter is urgent and a master marketing plan should be in place with the administrator to contact directly potential tenants who have successful operations in similar locations in other towns. Most people so far successful for such projects are the various fast-food chains, cafes, bars, souvenir shops of some quality, art and handicraft and so on. This effort will also require the help of the municipality and the CTO by relaxing the strict building requirements be it for a short period of time (say 3-5 years), whereas the possibility of excluding the area from the statutory control classification will help tremendously (even though political intervention may not make this possible). A successful operation will upgrade rental/capital values by more than 100% (see Nicosia and Limassol examples), whereas Paphos has the advantage of the increasing number of tourists. Perhaps a direct connection with the local hotels, through the cooperation of the tour operators and with free transport (for the initial period of 10-20 months) will help.
The preparation of a special website, the direct and constant mailing to targeted business operators is another way to attract investors/tenants, whereas the old residential buildings could become artist studios/young people homes etc. Some of these multi storey buildings have a most attractive architectural character and with good views. Again finance is a problem and I wonder if the municipality could lead the way to abolish council and sewage taxes for a period, whereas the setting up of a “renovation” financing fund with low interest rates and with a repayment of 15-20 years could be an added attraction – provided of course that this renovation is carried out over the next two years.
This is a project which will make a huge difference for Paphos and as the local tourist numbers increase, so we expect the number of visitors will follow.
The Paphos Mall has done an initial damage to the traditional commercial centre, as it serves a much different sector of shopping habits and it caused the municipality to re-think and take urgent measures for the central renovation. The two do not necessarily compete as such and we could say that they are more of a supplementary use. Even with double the rents for the renovated centre, it is still well behind the prevailing Mall rentals/expenses.
There is ample room for both to co-exist.