The data provided by the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) reveal that the Municipality of Tirana, from 2015 to March 2018, has approved a total of 492 construction permits. Around 90 construction permits were signed throughout 2015, while in 2016, 106 permits were issued, for an area of 209.3 thousand square meters. In 2017, the number of permits reached 231 for a total area of 522 thousand square meters, and in the first quarter of 2018, 65 permits were granted.
The area planned for construction in Tirana is 60% of the total for the whole of Albania. INSTAT goes on to say that the number of construction permits approved for residential buildings (which includes buildings and private apartments) accounts for 75,2% of the total number of permits, while the number of permits approved for non-resident buildings (which includes hotels, towers , offices, commercial, industrial and other centers) occupies 24,8%.
Many people still remember Erion Veliaj's promise before he was elected mayor of Tirana, to establish a construction moratorium in the capital. "My promise is that we, together with the government, have a moratorium on construction, stop construction and make sure we save all the public spaces for parks first." – declared Veliaj on May 4, 2015, during a hearing with the residents of Unit no. 8.
But not even a few weeks after his victory at the head of Tirana, several buildings began to appear in different areas, without any uniformity with the existing buildings. Building permits continued to be issued one after the other, culminating in 2017, with the design of a series of towers around the center of the capital.
If you go for a walk in Tirana, you can see every 1 km, buildings being built and large complexes, with permits signed by the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj.
But what are the capital's real needs for construction in relation to its population?
"If until around the year 2000 Tirana also experienced rates of 6-7% of population growth per year, it is understood that especially in the last 10 years the rates of urbanization have fallen, but still being at levels that Europe has not seen for a long time. knows them. Today it is calculated that Tirana is at the rate of 3-4% of population growth per year." - said urban planner Flamur Kuçi, for Citizens Channel.
"Tirana today has a construction stock as a housing fund of about 18 million m2 for a population of about 600.000 inhabitants. If Tirana, in a realistic calculation, has to prepare to accommodate an additional population of 15-150 inhabitants in the next 200.000 years, it will have to calculate an additional construction fund of about 6 million m2 in the next 15 years." Kuçi adds further.
Currently, construction needs and purchasing power capacities are almost in opposite directions. The 8% infrastructure tax, with which Erion Veliaj justifies constructions in Tirana, has significantly increased apartment prices. If before, in the areas outside the Ring of Tirana, prices ranged from 380 to 500 euros, today with the new construction trend, the price fluctuates from 750 to 950 euros m2.
So, a family with 4 members, who will choose Tirana as a destination to live, they will need at least 60-70 thousand euros to buy an apartment.
Even according to the purchasing power index, the Albanian capital is among the most expensive in the world. The Numbeo.com index ranks 269 cities in the world, according to the price-to-income ratio, which is the best indicator to measure the affordability of buying an apartment (the lower this index, the better), places Tirana in 235th place, ranking among the cities where it is most difficult to buy a house with disposable income. Paris in France and Milan in Italy are ranked 231st and 232nd respectively. Even cheaper is One York, which is ranked 194th.
"Overall, the challenge of Tirana remains the construction quality and especially the urban quality of living and not just the housing aspect." - further emphasizes the urban planner, Flamur Kuçi.
Permit for the building, but the complex is being built
Sources for the Citizens Channel within the Municipality of Tirana inform that in the capital, part of the permits granted are for multi-building complexes. The most typical case is a complex that is being built near the Ali Demi area, near the Tirana Prison. The builder "Kontakt" Sh.pk has been provided with only 1 construction permit, but the plan revealed by the Citizens Channel indicates that a total of 33 buildings are expected to be built, on an area of 54 thousand m2.
The project for the construction of these buildings was made by the OMA architecture studio based in Rotterdam, Holland. What stands out is the trend of painting the buildings in different colors, as the architect was inspired by Edi Rama, during the time when he was Mayor and started changing the facades of the buildings.
Another complex granted as a single permit by the Municipality of Tirana is the one near the Municipality of Paris, where it is being built by the company "KIKA". Here, the Municipality of Tirana has made numerous interventions in the infrastructure, to facilitate access to the complex consisting of several buildings.
"Fiori Del Bosco" is another complex which has 6 buildings with 10 floors each and is located in the area of "Don Bosco" in Tirana. The project is expected to be finished within 2020, while one of the construction companies is EDIL-AL, owned by Artan Dulak, at the same time the owner of Vizion Plus television.
In the meantime, next to the World Bektashi Council, the company Kastrati Sh.a, owned by the businessman Shefqet Kastrati, will start the construction of a complex consisting of dozens of buildings. The project is nearing completion.
Tower for "customers"
At least 24 new towers, with 25-30 floors are expected to be built in Tirana. The permits have been formally approved by the National Council of the Territory, but the initial proposal was made by the Municipality of Tirana.
"For the towers, we inherited the French plan for a center that would have tall buildings for simple reasons, neither Rama nor I have ever violated the public space, it has always been private."- said Veliaj a few weeks ago, invited to a political show.
The French plan envisioned 10 tall towers—over 81 meters each, approximately 20-25 floors—which would be placed around Skenderbej Square and along the axis of Martyrs of the Nation Boulevard.
Citiziens Channel analyzed a part of the tower projects, where most of them are investments by newly created companies, while another part is being given to some of the "clients" who are the main beneficiaries of public funds in recent years.
"Eyes of Tirana" is a skyscraper that will be built in the center of the capital by businessman Artan Dulaku, at the former Chamber of Commerce. It was designed by the Danish company Henning Larsen Architects and is the winner of an architecture competition in 2003, organized by former Mayor Edi Rama. The project envisages 26 floors, while it will also include hotel services, thus benefiting from the tax reduction that the Rama government has recently made.
It was June 1, 2001, when the mayor Edi Rama, accompanied by the prime minister of that time, Ilir Meta, inaugurated the construction of games for children, "7-dwarfs". Today, 17 years later, it is again Edi Rama who has decided the fate of this playground. A tower called Downtown Albania and 133.8 meters high, will be the new silhouette of the capital. The tower is a joint investment of 75 million euros by businessmen Samir Mane and Shefqet Kastrati, while the latter spent over 30 million euros on the purchase of the Sheraton Hotel.
After the Tirana Hotel, a 35-storey tower is expected to be built, thus losing the identity of the building that is known as a 15-storey building. The application for a construction permit was made by Alban Efthimi, owner of the studio Atelie 4, the main studio with which Edi Rama worked yesterday as mayor and today as prime minister. The investor of this tower, which will serve as a hotel and shopping center, is the businessman Ramë Geci, known for his friendship with the left-wing government.
"The towers are disproportionate to the nature of the development of the city of Tirana and will impact on the further encroachment of the city, traffic, construction, construction externalities. So in essence, for Tirana, this is not a positive development and for the benefit of the city." - adds urban planner Flamur Kuçi.
West Residence is a multifunctional building, which will be built behind the Presidency building, along Ibrahim Rrugova street, in the place where there is now a parking lot and the former clinic of the block. The project bears the signature of the Italian architect, Stephano Boeri, while the construction company is Invest Society, created about 18 months ago.
The same company and the same architect will build another multifunctional building called BLOCK, positioned in the heart of the block, next to the former Bar Rovena. The land is owned by MP Tom Doshi, while its past has been associated with quite a few court conflicts.
"300 million euros are expected to be spent on construction for 2018 alone. Meanwhile, about 800 million euros will be invested in Tirana within 3 years, collected from the account of the income collected by the Municipality of Tirana. Some construction firms, if they are checked at the NRC, they are "ghosts", since they have no budget."- says Ornela Liperi for Citiziens Channel.
Garden Building, a 24-story building will be built on the territory of the former Museum of Natural Sciences. The tower was designed by the Arche Associati studio of Marco Casamonti, an architect who has designed objects of particular importance such as the "NATIONAL ARENA" stadium or the Durrës square, "VELIERA". Garden Building, whose name was decided because of some climbing flowers on the building, will be built by Nova Construction 2012, owned by two Shtufina brothers.
The "NATIONAL ARENA" stadium, which once again bears the signature of the architect Casamonti, is also expected to be a tower. This service tower, which is being built by the Alb-Star company, has risen rapidly, faster than the stadium itself.
51N4E is another design studio involved in the construction of towers in Tirana. With founder Peter Swinnen, at the same time an adviser to the Flemish Government and a close friend of the mayor Rama, the name of 51N4E appears in a number of important projects. She is the designer of Edi Rama's villa in the village of Surrel, at the foot of Dajti, as well as the designer of the multi-storey TID tower, today Hotel PLAZZA. 51N4E has recently designed several multi-storey buildings, called BOOK BUILDING and positioned behind Tirana City Hall, clockwise. According to the project that Citiziens Channel has, two concrete towers 2 times higher than the Clock tower will be built in this space, as well as a futuristic object between them, which will serve as a shopping center.
Recently, the company Gener 2, owned by Bashkim Ulaj, received permission for a building on Dervish Hima Street, (near the national stadium) with 21 floors above ground and 4 floors below ground.
Economy of "Towers" - Money is not lent by banks, the construction sector is in danger of collapse
But the construction of towers is showing a new risk, that of financial collapse in the construction sector. "In my opinion, towers (and by towers I am referring to planned constructions in the city center with a height of 20-30 floors) are not an expression of the need of the construction market or the pressure for development. They are more the result of the need to maximize the benefits from the development of a narrow group of the construction sector and especially that segment of construction speculation." - says Flamur Kuçi, for Citizens Channel.
The apartments in the towers in the center of Tirana are relatively expensive and the builders expect to sell them for 2500-3000 euros per square meter, while the first floors that serve as offices and shops for 8,000-10,000 euros per square meter. With these prices, a 100 m2 apartment costs over 250 euros, making it impossible for a family coming to live in Tirana to buy it.
"These objects will be addressed to the upper part of the pyramid of the population from an economic and financial point of view. Understandably, this segment of the population sees investment in real estate more as a protection of investment capital than as meeting housing needs." - continues Kuçi.
What is more important, remains the source of the money with which these towers are being built in the middle of the capital.
"There is no big increase in bank credit and this is important, where this money is coming from is a bit difficult to understand, but this money is not coming from the banks. Currently, banks do not want to lend to the construction sector, as they see it as a bubble that can burst at any moment." - concludes Ornela Liperi, for Citiziens Channel.
*Citizens Channel /EH/
