City Hall rejects Panorama Tbilisi development project

A multi-purpose space with tourism and real estate potential, valued at half a billion USD, has been rejected by Georgian authorities. 

Tbilisi City Hall did not approve the Panorama Tbilisi investment project and the tourism and real estate project, which would unite four multi-functional complexes in the Tbilisi city centre. The space would also offer an alternative location for project development.

Those behind the decision said more work needed to be done before the project could be approved, and there was also debate about the location of the project.

Panorama Tbilisi’s four multi-functional areas with a total investment of $0.5 billion USD would be fully funded by the Georgian Co-Investment Fund (GCF). The GCF is a $6 billion USD private equity fund which helped finance Sololaki Rise, Sololaki Gardens, Tavisufleba (Liberty) Square and Erekle II Square.

Georgian billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is one of the major investors of the project.

In its ruling, Tbilisi City Hall believed the project would be better implemented in another part of the city rather than in Tbilisi’s historical district. It offered the suburb of Nadzaladevi as an alternative location to construct the project.

The Tbilisi City Hall report also stated some parts of the project needed more work before it could be approved.

"The planning and technical-economic research of the project needs more justification. It is also important to make the correct selection of city planning in terms of a comparative study, based on the analysis,” read the report.

The GCF has not yet responded to Tbilisi City Hall report. It is unclear what steps will be taken next and whether the project will continue to move forward.

The Panorama Tbilisi project was presented last March by the GCF and it immediately gained the attention of many, including a controversial response from architectures and cultural heritage protectors, who said the project was not consistent with the existing architecture in Tbilisi.

Due to the high public interest in the project, the Tbilisi Territory Urbanization and Utilization Issues Regulatory Commission discussed the Panorama Tbilisi project in several open sessions.