Densification
Illegal / infill construction
High-rises breach zoning limits, courtyards and daylight are lost, and City Hall's own practice of 'legalizing' unauthorized construction has become a budget revenue stream that rewards violations rather than deterring them.
How it began
Before. After independence in 1991, Yerevan never got a coherent development strategy: Soviet-era planned urbanism gave way to piecemeal, seat-of-the-pants construction with no consistent rules.
What changed. The Northern Avenue project (2000-2003) turned speculative, zoning-breaching redevelopment with forced resident evictions into the template for commercial real estate in the city center.
Timeline
- Origin
Northern Avenue: a project approved above the zoning limit
City authorities approved the redevelopment project with a cap of 6 stories along the front line and 8 in the courtyard. Builders almost immediately exceeded the limit, with some blocks rising above 8 stories.
- Decision
Decision No. 1151-N: 345,000 m² of the center marked for expropriation
The government earmarked about 345,000 m² of central Yerevan — Kond, the Firdusi quarter, land by the Grigor Lusavorich church and the wine factory — for expropriation 'for construction programs', generalizing the Northern Avenue model across the center. In autumn 2004 dozens of Kond residents were brought to City Hall; the mayor promised not to start clearance 'until the last Kond resident's case is studied'.
- Development
Northern Avenue: below-market evictions and opaque tenders
Residents of demolished buildings were forcibly evicted with below-market compensation — for instance, $33,000 for a 55.7 m² apartment when the market rate was about $800 per m². Construction tenders were awarded behind closed doors, without an open competition.
- Decision
The Firdusi quarter: 12 years of 'public interest' and shifting developers
The Firdusi (33rd) quarter redevelopment program launched — 5.5 ha, over $300M. In 2008 the area was declared one of 'dominant public interest', with 'City Center Development' — linked to a former Glendale Hills director — named as acquirer. The project lapsed past its 7-year statutory window, and in 2018 the land was re-assigned to 'Dianar' (the same network), split into 18 lots held by shell companies.
- Decision
Dalma Gardens: land in exchange for a road
A 'road-for-land' arrangement emerges: Sahakyanshin would build the Leningradyan–Isakov road for 6.4 billion dram in exchange for the future Dalma Gardens plot. By August 2019 the developer had design approval and began work (2,704 apartments, up to 15 stories, ~9,000 residents on 6.4 ha) before full construction permits were in place.
- Development
A Kond redevelopment competition — residents fear a 'second Northern Avenue'
The Deputy PM's office and the Urban Development Committee announced a design competition to redevelop Kond. Residents explicitly cited the Northern Avenue precedent as what they feared would repeat; an architect warned that no old Yerevan quarter has ever been 'restored' without demolishing valuable old buildings.
- Development
Tsitsernakaberd Highway collapses near the Dalma Gardens construction site
A stretch of the highway collapsed next to the Dalma Gardens residential construction site of developer Sahakyanshin — land that had been rezoned from green space to residential use. The road was closed for more than two weeks.
- Decision
City Hall legalized thousands of unauthorized buildings — and profited from it
Between 2019 and 2024, Yerevan City Hall issued roughly 4,258 legalization decisions for unauthorized construction, adding about 9.1 billion AMD to the city budget. Critics say the practice rewards violators instead of deterring them.
- Civic action
Vozrozhdeniye residents block a street over a high-rise
Residents of the Vozrozhdeniye (Renaissance) quarter blocked a street, protesting a permit for a 10-story building they consider illegal, and the lack of pedestrian crossings in the area.
- Update
Deadline for legalizing unauthorized construction extended to the end of 2026
Authorities extended, once again, the window for legalizing unauthorized buildings — now until the end of 2026 — keeping the violations-for-revenue scheme in place.
Promises & what happened
- Arthur Meschian — Yerevan chief architect (2018-2020), Yerevan MunicipalityBroken
«'Land occupation is theft from all of us, it is over': the chief architect vowed not to legalize illegal builds and personally assured residents that no high-rise would go up at 6/1 Alikhanyan Brothers St.»
Said: 2020 · FIP.amChecked: August 21, 2020That same 2020 the city gave Ratko LLC a permit for a 12-storey building at that exact address and legalized construction by the 'Russia' mall.
- Tigran Avinyan — Mayor of Yerevan, Yerevan MunicipalityPending
«Turn the remaining ~200 ha of the Dalma gardens into a large public forest-park — a forest zone with sports and children's grounds and a water body.»
Said: August 28, 2023 · ArmenPressChecked: July 28, 2026Avinyan pitched it as a Yerevan 'Central Park' — on the same Dalma land the city rezoned from green to residential and handed to Sahakyanshin for 2,704 apartments (see the 2012 land deal). No deadline was set, and no completion has been reported since.
Red flags
- Below-market compensation
Residents on Northern Avenue were evicted below market — e.g. $33,000 for 55.7 m² against a ~$800/m² market rate.
- Opaque tender
The Northern Avenue construction tenders were awarded behind closed doors, without open competition.
- Rezoning
The Dalma Gardens plot was rezoned from green space to residential for development.
- Unauthorized construction
City Hall legalized ~4,258 unauthorized buildings (2019–2024), turning the violation into a budget revenue stream.
Connections
- Enabled byMaster plan & city governance
Without a coherent master plan and systemic height-limit enforcement, City Hall approves overages case by case and then monetizes the violations through legalization — this is a failure of city planning, not a series of isolated incidents.
Money
- 9.1 billion AMDBudget revenue
City-budget revenue from legalizing ~4,258 unauthorized buildings (2019–2024) — the violation turned into a revenue line.
Key facts
- Legalization decisions
- 4,258 (2019-2024)
- Eviction example
- $33,000 for 55.7 m²
Sources
ARKA · Yerevan budget receives over 9.1 billion drams from legalizing unauthorized buildings, 2019-2024
7or.am · Highway collapse near the Dalma Gardens construction sitearchive
EcoLur · Northern Avenue rated Yerevan's most anti-ecological structure
Hetq · Kond is the last neighborhood of old Yerevan
Transparency.am / CivilNet · The unknown developer of the Firdusi quarter
Azatutyun (RFE/RL) · Kond residents have no hope their neighborhood's problems will be solved soon
News.am · Petition to confiscate 16.8 billion dram of illegal property from Gagik Beglaryan accepted (11 properties on Northern Avenue)
FIP.am · Vowed not to legalize illegal builds — then permitted a 12-storey block
ArmenPress · Yerevan to create an unprecedented ~200 ha forest-park at Dalma Gardens
Panorama.am · Avinyan on the Dalma gardens: the concept is a forest-park as close as possible to New York's Central Park