Below the Student City, not far from the Great Park of the Artificial Lake, lies one of the most coveted areas of Tirana. For decades, it has been among the most sought-after villa and residence spaces in the capital.
A housing complex built during the dictatorship for East German diplomats became such a landmark that today the road that passes through it is officially known as the "German Villas".
After the 90s, the buildings were used by state institutions and agencies, while the land on which they were located entered a process that routinely affected thousands of Albanian families and has been ongoing for three decades: property restitution.
Today this complex is at the center of another legal conflict, related to one of the government's most controversial urban development mechanisms: the Albanian Investment Corporation (KISH).
At first glance, it seems like a typical story of owners against the state. But the documents reviewed by Citizens.al show a more complex reality.
Legally recognized property rights, which could have become an obstacle to the Corporation's projects in the area, were circumvented by avoiding privatization and expropriation.
1995: The Genesis of Property Recognition
During the dictatorship, the state confiscated and owned almost all property. The former owners were the class that was most politically persecuted.
After the collapse of the system in 1991, Albania entered the transition towards capitalist democracy, initially aiming to return and compensate former owners. For this purpose, the Property Restitution and Compensation Commission (PPRC) was established.
In the series of decisions, the CCCP also expressed its opinion on the area below the Student City (dormitory No. 4; the cinema club and the fields of the “Studenti” club). In decision No. 461, dated November 8, 1995, which Citizens.al has, the CCCP recognized the ownership of about 72,000 m2 land for the heirs of Ismail Sureli's family.
Read: “A private master plan”: Collapse and towers behind the National Museum
The decision also contained an essential element. The family was recognized as having the right of pre-emption for the state buildings erected on this land, including the former German Villas, the former cinema, the dormitory, the surrounding warehouses, etc.
The mortgage registered this right in the property registry that same year: 1995. From subsequent verifications of the registers by the heirs, it was confirmed to them again until 2014 that it was recognized. "the right of pre-emption at the time of privatization of the villas, the former club and the former warehouses."
In practice, this meant that the state could use the buildings on the Sureli family's land, but the moment it decided to privatize them, the landowner would have absolute priority to purchase them.
So the state was not the full owner, it was only the owner of the buildings on private land.
"The strategy of inaction"
During the 90s and early 2000s, many state-owned facilities were privatized, but the former German Villages were not.
The state continued to use them, or lease them for offices, centers, or other functions. In this way, full privatization was avoided, since if such a procedure had been initiated, the right of pre-emption by the heirs of the Sureli family would have been automatically activated.
In a letter from the Directorate of Government Services, it is emphasized that they are necessary for state function, therefore "Not even approval for privatization can be given"Until 2018, the issue remained pending between recognition as owners, but rejection of privatization.
About two decades after the KKKP decision, the socialist government of Prime Minister Edi Rama established a new instrument that would deal with the development of state properties: the Albanian Investment Corporation (KISH).
Read: How the greed for towers alienated the area of the former Garda
Since 2024, the Corporation has begun to develop state-owned properties through public-private partnerships (PPP). Mainly, it has set as an incentive the possibility for private individuals to build towers on public land and in return provide surface areas from the facilities they will build. In parallel, they undertake the development of projects for administrative offices or institutions.
This approach proved critical for the fate of the Sureli family's properties in the former German Villas. While for the state authorities it was one more excuse not to return them.
While privatization activated the right of pre-emption, development did not necessarily do so.
By its actions and inactions, the government implies that it can use the Sureli family's land as "exchange commodity" for investment projects, without transferring direct ownership to private individuals and without automatically activating the right recognized since 1995.
First project: National Library
In early 2025, the Corporation opened a call for private partners for the construction of the new National Library building.
The XDGA studio project was accompanied by an additional component: The private investor who would undertake the implementation would obtain the right to use 5,219 m2 land of former German villas for the construction of a facility with an area of up to 60,000 m2 – practically a tower over 20 floors.
With this idea, the government was not privatizing or selling the villas, but rather razing them to make way for a "urban compensation for public purposes".
In fact, by government decision, the land at the former German villas became state property, unconditionally, and was transferred to the Investment Corporation.
Read: The call fails, the government cannot find investors for the National Library
This was only understood at that time by the Sureli family, who after inquiring received an official response from the Cadastre that “the origin of the property […] registered in February 2012 […] there were no notes on the right of pre-emption”.
The answer was disturbing. The family had documents issued by the Cadastre from 2014 in which the notes were present.
Under the suspicion that, at best, the title of ownership was not properly reflected, or at worst, it could have been deleted, disappeared or manipulated in the physical and electronic records of the Cadastre, she deepened the requests.
The issue had now escalated not only into a refusal to privatize, but also a refusal to recognize them as owners.
While the Sureli family was busy gathering information, the call for the development of the National Library and the tower at the former German Villas was canceled. So was the second call.
Officially, the Corporation said that it had no interest, but it is likely that this is related to the Sureli family's move and the problems that the private investor would have in the future if he were to develop the tower on the land claimed by it.
Change of plan: Tower over the “Zyber Hallulli” orphanage
In September 2025, the Corporation put the National Library on the back burner and opened another call that again included the former villa area. This call envisaged the construction of new facilities for the “Zyber Hallulli” orphanage there.
At first glance, a social project was being developed. But from a legal and urban perspective, this action produced an important effect, the demolition of the current orphanage building, freeing up the land on Elbasani Street for tower construction.
Read: A tower is expected to replace the "Zyber Hallulli" orphanage
On the other hand, as documents reviewed by Citizens.al show, this appeal continued to deny the property rights of the Sureli family, which continued a long series of correspondence with the Cadastre and the government.
In principle, with the new call, the government meant that it was not privatizing the former German Villas complex and that the function of the area would remain public again after the interventions – despite the fact that they clearly foresee, even in the documents, the demolition of the current buildings.
But, as long as the former villas are objects over which the Sureli family enjoyed the right of pre-emption since 1995, the government cannot demolish, destroy or alienate them to make way for new projects, without first offering them the exercise of the right of pre-emption.
The family claims that there was no prior contact, consultation or conversation, either for the first call that envisaged the construction of a tower as a form of incentive for the development of the Library, or in the second case.
One of the conditions for developing the project “New Children's Home & New State Inspectorate Complex” is to first create new spaces for the orphanage (in this case at the former German Villas) and then open the construction site for the private "Zyber Hallulli" building.
The "development model" that the government is pushing
In June 2025, the Sureli family officially requested the initiation of privatization procedures. A similar request in 2018 was rejected on the grounds that "the facilities were necessary for state function."
In August 2025, she also approached the Corporation to be involved in the development, while in parallel she launched a complaint with the Ombudsman, the Albanian Supreme Audit Institution, and a lawsuit in the Administrative Court.
The matter only took a turn in December 2025 when the Cadastre acknowledged problems with the registers. The digitalization subcontractor had not fully reflected the historical transcriptions of the properties, so on January 26, 2026, it (re)registered the right of pre-emption in the property card.
But despite this development, the Corporation’s call to “develop” the orphanage in the former German villas did not stop. On the contrary, three days later the winners of the competition were announced: three towers of up to 35 floors on the current orphanage site and new structures in the area of the former German villas.
“Today, with this project, we pave the way for new directions for the future, […] creating entirely new conditions for children who are in the hands of society's solidarity, orphans,” Prime Minister Rama said at the beginning of the competition.
Read: The winner is announced, three towers up to 35 floors by “Zyber Hallulli”.
The Sureli family then added the winning company to the lawsuit. The case could thus block the development of the orphanage's new facilities, calling into question the government's justified purpose.
Was this the best option to address the orphanage's needs? Doesn't the government have enough funds, let's say, to develop a new space for them on public and uncontested property?
This story is no longer just a property conflict, but probably the first case of a concrete clash with the new and dangerous development model pushed forward by the government through the Investment Corporation. Private property is being used as "exchange commodity" to make way for the towers.
It sounds like a play on words, but the reality we are encountering is this: a game where certain investments are being favored at the expense of the rights of former owners.
The question that remains is not only whether the Sureli family is right, but: Can a property right be avoided by not selling the property, but by (re)developing it?
The answer to this question will not affect a single area of Tirana. It will determine how conflicts between urban development and private property will be handled in Albania for years to come.
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.
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