The Kastrati Group began and continued the expansion of the former Sheraton Hotel without a permit. Citizens.al proves that the authorities turned a blind eye to the works that began in 2019, while the construction permits were approved in the period 2021-2022.
A not-at-all-transparent story
Officially, on November 8, 2019, the Kastrati group secured from the government development permit to expand the MAK Albania hotel building (former Sheraton).
But a development permit does not give you the right to build. It only determines in principle how much and how much can be built on a plot of land: intensity, maximum volume, number of floors, and distances from the boundaries.
The right to build is only possible with a building permit, which in this case – according to delegated procedures by the government – would be provided by the Municipality of Tirana.
The construction permit approves the technical design, architecture and concrete implementation within the terms of the development permit. It is issued to builders only after payment of the infrastructure impact tax.
However, satellite imagery and field evidence show that the crane was erected next to the former Sheraton Hotel (2019), while the construction site for three of the four development zones (Zones B, C, and D) was opened long before the municipality issued permits.
Citizens.al has learned that the Kastrati group officially applied for a permit on May 6, 2021, and the Municipality of Tirana approved it. on July 6, 2021 (for Zones A, B, there was a permit review on November 10, 2022) and June 20, 2022 (for Zones C, D).
This time discrepancy between the actual works and the permits issued may be one of the reasons why the Kastrati group never placed a notice board for the works at the site.
Construction, which began with a development permit granted by the National Territorial Council in November 2019, envisioned an integrated complex for hotels, residences, and offices.
By in June 2021 The project changes significantly increased the construction area above ground – from 69,665 m² to 108,827 m² – and the number of floors from a maximum of 13 to 15.
The increase in construction intensity was accompanied by a marked lack of transparency.
Thus, the revised permit also provided for deepening the building by one floor underground, up to 5 floors. However, during the revision period, the Kastrati group had made significant progress with the construction.
Drone footage from February-December 2021 shows that in areas B, C, and D, work had progressed to the completion of the carbine structure, extending up to 14 floors above ground.
At the same time as construction was starting, or continuing without permission, the Kastrati group was publicly announcing agreements with major international names in the hotel industry such as Hyatt (December 2018) and Hilton (February 2021), advertising the project as a development of strategic importance for the urban and tourist image of Tirana.
This development context began to be publicly praised also from Mayor Veliaj.
According to official reports, within 2019, Hyatt was said to be opening its branch in one of the six towers that the Kastrati group was designing next to MAK Albania. Similarly, Hilton was predicting within 2023.
But none of these hotels have opened yet, even though the promised deadlines have passed by several years. Hyatt, recently listed with an updated year (2026 in Kastrati group website), while there are no official dates for Hilton.
Citizens.al reached out to the head offices of the brands in question for comment, but did not receive a response.
These long delays raise questions about the seriousness of the agreements and give weight to the suspicion that they may have been used more for image, influence, or even a legitimizing cover for "tolerance" by public authorities in illegal construction.
Citizens.al also reached out to the architectural studios Archea and X-Plan to find out if they are still involved in the project, but did not receive a response.
Infrastructure taxes and lack of control
Another dark aspect in this issue is the payment of taxes for infrastructure.
The Kastrati Group has been assigned two taxes with a total value of around 183 million lek (around 1.6 million euros) - one of 138 million lek in the 2021 permit and another of 45 million lek in the 2022 permit.
The Municipality of Tirana refused to clarify when this tax was paid and how much the tax was for the permit for zones C and D.
Meanwhile, although the municipality approved the permits only after formal applications in 2021-22, the Territory Protection Inspectorate (IMT) has not undertaken any checks or proceedings for unauthorized construction in two years of works.
In a response to Citizens.al, IMT justified that for the MAK Albania project "there has been no complaint or criminal report", implying that without public pressure or formal denunciations, constructions can slip out of legal control, especially when large economic groups are behind them.
After the former Sheraton Hotel, which once belonged to the Kuwaiti investor group, MAK Albania, a number of companies linked to Kastrati were involved in the game: Kastrati Residences, Kastrati Hotels & Tower and Kastrati Construction.
The initial project also included Mak Elite Offices, a company under the Balfin group, which was suspended and deregistered shortly before the second development permit was secured.
But the Kastrati towers at the former Sheraton Hotel are not just a story of concrete and glass. They are a clear example of investments made in a lack of accountability and control: they are built without permits and with project changes that multiply the surface area, all "under the nose" of institutions that are not doing their job.
Despite this, ordinary citizens and small entrepreneurs have constantly felt "the iron fist" of the authorities in the declared war on "informal constructions"This case shows that politics has been and remains double-standard.
Citizens.al officially reached out to the group for comment on the start of construction before obtaining the relevant permits, the lack of a notice board, and other controversial issues surrounding the project.
The questions were forwarded to both the official addresses and directly to the PR and Marketing Director. However, as of the time of publication, we have not received a response.
Read also:
- Additional floors and 6 Kastrati towers at the former Sheraton
- Tower Race: The 10 Concrete Giants That Are Invading Tirana
- “Bread, heart and concrete”
Erblin Vukaj has completed his studies in “Communication Sciences” and further mastered (MSc) in “European and International Journalism” at the University of Tirana. Since 2012, Vukaj has been working as a professional journalist, gaining experience in online media, print media, radio and television. He has covered various issues such as current affairs, health, environment and sports. In parallel, he has led and been involved in several research projects on the communist past in Albania.
