Part of the Yerevan Development Tracker
Noragyugh — “Yerevan Downtown”
Approved, pre-constructionThe plan is to rebuild Noragyugh, the Kentron quarter on Paskevich Hill at the edge of the Hrazdan gorge, as a new city centre. It covers 83.9 hectares, with about 155 buildings for roughly 65,000 residents, and is expected to take around ten years.
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Where it stands today
Noragyugh has the decisions it needs for expropriation, but nothing has been built. The government approved the scheme on 29 January 2026 and authorised the mayor to sign acquisition contracts with DITI Construction and DITI Development. On 23 April, Decision No. 567 declared about 81 hectares an overriding public interest, with owners due market value plus 30%. City Hall said valuations and compensation would follow, but no valuations or offers have been reported publicly so far. The 2026–2031 government programme adopted in August says the project “will be launched”, without a date or budget. The mayor pitched it to investors in June and again in September. As of 25 October 2026 there is no signed investment agreement and no named financier. The techno-economic justification has not been published, and there has been no architectural competition and no groundbreaking. Everything rests on the General Plan adopted on 10 September 2024, which ended four years in which the capital had no valid master plan.
How this page is built
Each timeline entry comes from a dated, published source: a government decision, a statement from the mayor's office, a signed contract, a finished tender, a court record, or a report in a reliable news outlet. Promises and announced deadlines don't count as milestones. You'll find them under “What to watch next”.
Confirmed milestones
Mayor asks French architects for a Noragyugh concept
City Hall said Mayor Avinyan had met a group of French architects, Jean-Michel Wilmotte among them, and asked them to study the quarter's problems and prospects and come back with concept proposals. Nothing was said about a budget, a timeline or who would pay.
Sources:Yerevan MunicipalityWilmotte shows Noragyugh and Cascade concepts in Paris
In Paris, Jean-Michel Wilmotte showed Mayor Avinyan two possible ways to finish the Cascade, plus a project to renovate Noragyugh, the quarter next to central Yerevan.
Sources:ARKA News AgencyTransparency International says the draft General Plan should not be approved
After a public hearing at City Hall on 8 August 2024, Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center published its comments on the draft General Plan and its strategic environmental assessment. It pointed to population figures that did not add up and said the draft should go back for revision.
Sources:HetqCouncil of Elders adopts Yerevan's new General Plan
The vote was 32 to 13, with 2 abstentions. The plan is a GIS-based document drawn up by Yerevan Project CJSC, and among other things it makes the Hrazdan gorge a specially protected green zone where construction is restricted.
Government approves the Noragyugh programme and authorises expropriation
The cabinet approved the redevelopment programme and authorised the mayor of Yerevan to sign acquisition contracts on the state's behalf with DITI Construction CJSC and DITI Development CJSC. The figures presented were 83.9 hectares, 155 buildings, roughly 2–2.5 million m² and about 65,000 residents. The site is the area around Paskevich Hill, bounded by the Hrazdan gorge, and owners would get market value plus 30%.
Ministry draft names the DITI companies as project operator
A draft from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure puts the affected area in Kentron's Noragyugh quarter, at the Isakov–Monte Melkonyan avenue junction and on Paskevich Hill. It names DITI Construction and DITI Development as buyer of property and project operator. At this stage it was only a draft.
Sources:Times.am (citing Fakt)Government declares Noragyugh an overriding public interest
Decision No. 567 covers about 81 hectares bounded by the Isakov and Monte Melkonyan avenue junction, Paskevich Hill and the Hrazdan gorge. The DITI companies are named as operators and buyers of property, and owners are to get market value plus 30%. The decision also fixes the order of work with a 1:2 ratio, so the operator can acquire in the flat part only after matching acquisitions on a comparable area of the hill. City Hall said on 5 May that valuations and compensation would start on this basis. It gave no dates.
Avinyan pitches Noragyugh to UAE investors, no deal signed
The mayor took Ahmed Al Shamsi, group CEO of Trojan Construction Holding, and Silk Capital founder Eduard Sukiasyan through the Noragyugh plans. They also talked about the Promenade complex and Dalma Gardens. No agreement came out of the meeting.
Sources:PanARMENIAN.NetParliament adopts government programme promising to launch Noragyugh
The National Assembly approved the government's 2026–2031 programme by 63 votes to 24. Its urban-development chapter says the Noragyugh “Downtown Yerevan” investment programme “will be launched”, but gives no deadline or budget. The next item promises to carry out the plans for the Dalma urban forest and new green zones in the Hrazdan gorge and Nork–Marash. Civil Contract's April 2026 election programme had named 2036 as the target year for the project.
Mayor discusses Noragyugh with Royal Front Investments and Dubai Duty Free
Avinyan met Sina Al Fattahi, a board member at Royal Front Investments, and Salah Tahlak of Dubai Duty Free to go over the project's progress, the development concept and openings for investment. He posted on Telegram that interest in the project “continues to grow”. No deal, sum or timeline was announced.
What to watch next (not confirmed yet)
- Whether the June and September investor meetings lead to a signed investment agreement and a named financier.
- Publication of the techno-economic justification. City Hall says it is still being drafted.
- The first valuations and compensation offers under Decision No. 567, and how the 1:2 rule between the hill and the flat part works in practice.
- An architectural competition or an approved masterplan for the site.
- How the scheme fits the 2024 General Plan, which made the Hrazdan gorge a specially protected green zone.
This page tracks what has been built, signed or decided. It doesn't predict prices. Projects get delayed, scaled back or cancelled, and a confirmed milestone doesn't mean prices in the district will go up.
