Part of the Yerevan Development Tracker
World Trade Center Yerevan (WTC Yerevan)
Approved, pre-constructionWorld Trade Center Yerevan (WTC Yerevan) is a planned two-tower complex of offices, a hotel and shops on the site of Haypost's former headquarters and main post office at 22 Saryan Street in Kentron. It also takes in about 13,200 m² of neighbouring land on the northern edge of the historic Kond district. The developer Renshin, Haypost and the Armenian state are partners in it. When it was presented in October 2026, it came with a Foster + Partners design, an announced investment of USD 470 million and, by the developer's figures, towers of 200 m and 224 m.
Last updated:
Key facts
- Location
- 22 Saryan St + ≈13,200 m² of northern Kond, Kentron
- Shareholders (PM's office, Oct 2026)
- Renshin 56%, Haypost 25%, Republic of Armenia 19%
- Announced investment
- USD 470 million (≈USD 212 million in the 2023 plan)
- Planned towers
- 200 m and 224 m (developer figures)
- Partners
- Foster + Partners (design), Colliers (project management), Hyatt (hotel)
- Programme deadline
- 31 Dec 2029, extendable for court disputes
Where it stands today
Approved, and work has started on the site, but the towers themselves are not under construction. As of 25 October 2026 the programme, approved in 2023 by decision 1529-Ա, has a registered project company and a Foster + Partners design unveiled on 10 October. The adjoining Kond land is covered by public-interest decision 999-Ն, in force since 8 July 2024, and the PM's office says dismantling of the former Haypost building at Saryan 22 has begun. We found no published construction permit for the towers, no named construction contractor, no official completion date and no committed financing amount. What was signed with UK Export Finance is a memorandum. In Kond itself the company has filed 27 civil suits to acquire properties. Owners have filed suits of their own and challenged 999-Ն in the Administrative Court. Two properties behind the post office have passed to the company through court-approved settlements. No ruling on the merits of the challenges and no demolition of Kond houses has been recorded.
Photos and images
Render of the Foster + Partners design presented in October 2026: two towers joined by enclosed bridges with landscaped terraces, lifted off the ground to free up half of the site according to the architects, above low buildings for shops, restaurants and entertainment around a public square. The developer gives the towers' heights as 200 m and 224 m. Render of a square at the foot of the towers. According to Foster + Partners, the low buildings at the base will hold shops, restaurants and entertainment, and the green axis of the nearby park continues as a route up to a podium beneath the towers. Render of one of the three enclosed bridges between the towers, which the architects describe as shared amenity spaces with landscaped terraces. One tower is planned for offices and the other for apartments and a hotel; the design pairs glazed façades with a concrete frame, steel bracing and a split core. Render of a restaurant high in the towers. According to the architects, the towers are angled toward the National Assembly, the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Armenian Genocide Memorial and Mount Ararat. The former Haypost tower at 22 Saryan Street behind a hoarding printed with a visualisation of the planned towers, on 10 October 2026, the day the Foster + Partners design was presented. Hrazdan Stadium, the Hrazdan gorge and the low-rise Kond quarter on its rim, with central Yerevan behind, July 2020. The WTC zone lies on Kond's northern edge, between Saryan and Paronyan streets, and reaches the gorge rim. A model of the planned WTC Yerevan complex at the project presentation on 10 October 2026, where Foster + Partners presented details of the design; Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stands right of centre. The developer gives the heights of the two towers as 200 m and 224 m. The site model at the WTC Yerevan presentation on 10 October 2026; the board in front of it is headed “Kond Pedestrian Tunnel”. The two Soviet-era Kond pedestrian tunnels run under the former post office site. Illustration based on real aerial and street photos, not a survey map: the approximate outline of the ≈1.95 ha WTC footprint, made up of the Saryan 22 parcel and the ≈13,200 m² zone of decision 999-Ն on Kond's northern edge. The boundary is drawn approximately. The Haypost tower above the portals of the two Kond pedestrian tunnels, March 2017. The Soviet-era tunnels run under the former post office site. A speaker at the WTC Yerevan presentation on 10 October 2026, at which, according to the Prime Minister's office, Foster + Partners presented details of the building's design. The screen shows photos of city streets, a lit tunnel and a church. Saryan Street around 2001, with the Haypost tower at No. 22 on the left. The building housed the head office of the national postal operator Haypost and the main post office. The Haypost tower seen across a pedestrian boulevard in February 2019. The developer describes the site as the point where the boulevard axis meets the Hrazdan gorge. Schematic illustration based on a real 2019 photo, not the Foster + Partners design: two plain blocks show only the announced heights of 200 m and 224 m (developer figures) next to the former tower. Their shapes and positions are not the real design, and the scale is approximate. Design boards at a government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on 21 May 2025 on the progress of the World Trade Center construction programme; one board is marked “Foster”. The tower shown on them differs from the two-tower design presented in October 2026. Inside a Kond pedestrian tunnel in July 2026. The two Soviet-era tunnels, each about 460 m long, run from Saryan Street toward the Hrazdan gorge and pass under the former post office site; no plans for them have been published. A signing at the WTC Yerevan presentation on 10 October 2026, where, according to the Prime Minister's office, a management agreement with Hyatt Hotels Corporation was signed. The developer's website calls the planned hotel Hyatt Regency Hotel and Residences Yerevan. At the WTC Yerevan presentation on 10 October 2026, a memorandum of cooperation on partial financing of the project was signed with UK Export Finance, the UK's state export credit agency. No financing amount was disclosed. The Kond hillside seen from above in about February 2007. Kond is a historic Yerevan district whose area is estimated at between about 16 and 25 ha. An arched gate on Rustaveli Street in Kond, with a Soviet-era sign reading «Ռուսթավելու փող. / ул. Руставели», February 2018. Rustaveli Street is one of the streets listed in decision 999-Ն. Brick arches of the old Tapabashi mosque in Kond, as identified by the photographer, with later houses built against them, September 2014. Under Persian rule Kond was also called Tapabashi, a name that survives in streets listed in decision 999-Ն. Northern Kond at dusk in June 2024: old roofs, Surb Hovhannes church and new residential towers. The church, built in 1710, stands just outside the western boundary of the 999-Ն zone. A rutted lane in Kond leads to Surb Hovhannes Mkrtich (St John the Baptist) church, with a new apartment block on the left, June 2024. The church stands on the Kond height, in the northern part of the district. Central Yerevan and Mount Ararat in June 2018. At 224 m, the planned WTC Yerevan office tower would be more than 2.5 times the height of Armenia's tallest completed building, the 85 m Elite Plaza.
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
WTC Yerevan idea presented to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met an executive director of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) and Eduard Marutyan, founder of the urban-development investment company Renshin. They presented a plan to set up a World Trade Center in Yerevan. Pashinyan said the government was interested and suggested working out a “road map” with the relevant agencies. We found no earlier dated contact at government level in published records, although the association's own directory gives 2021 as the year WTC Yerevan started.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (centre) at the meeting on 17 May 2022 at which representatives of the World Trade Centers Association and Renshin presented a project to set up a World Trade Center in Yerevan. Pashinyan said the government was interested in the project.Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia / primeminister.amCC BY-ND 3.0 Government approves the WTC programme and the joint company (decision 1529-Ա)
Decision 1529-Ա approved the World Trade Center urban-development programme that Renshin LLC had submitted as investor. It authorised the Ministry of Economy to sign a contract with Renshin and to found World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC together with Renshin and Haypost CJSC. Charter capital was set at AMD 21.9 billion: AMD 10.95 billion in cash from Renshin, plus the state's and Haypost's property in the Saryan 22 building as an in-kind contribution. Renshin was to hold 50%, Haypost 30.18% and the state 19.82%. The ministry was also told to start the procedure for declaring exceptional overriding public interest over a plot of up to 12,000 m² next to Saryan 22. The decision's annex describes about 123,000 m² of offices, hotels, events space, retail and parking, valued at about USD 212 million including land. Pashinyan said no building of this scale had been built in the Third Republic.
Amendment 1972-Ա adjusts the shares and extends the public-interest deadline
Decision 1972-Ա, in force from 18 November 2023, amended 1529-Ա. The state's stake in the planned World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC went down from 19.82% to 19.002471% and Haypost's went up from 30.18% to 30.997529%; Renshin stayed at 50%. The plot became “about” 12,000 m² instead of “up to” 12,000 m². The Ministry of Economy also got six months instead of two to start the public-interest procedure.
Draft public-interest decision opened for public discussion
From 4 to 20 March 2024 the Ministry of Economy's draft decision on overriding public interest was up for discussion on e-draft.am. It covered areas between Saryan and Paronyan streets next to Saryan 22. Four proposals came in, all of them only “taken into note”, and the portal's online vote was 165 for and 65 against. According to the daily Hrapark, the draft took in the Saryan Street post office and about 60 addresses and plots on the adjacent streets.
Amendment enlarges the plot to ≈13,200 m² (decision 467-Ա)
Decision 467-Ա amended 1529-Ա again. The plot next to Saryan 22 that the project company must acquire grew from about 12,000 m² to about 13,200.54 m², and Haypost's AMD 6.788 billion contribution was restated to include VAT and the land's cadastral value.
Government and Renshin sign the programme contract
Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan, for the Government, and Renshin General Director Eduard Marutyan signed the contract to implement the WTC urban-development programme. The same day the Government, Renshin and Haypost signed a separate trilateral agreement on establishing World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC.
Alienation contract 166-24 signed with the newly registered project company
World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC was entered in the state register on 31 May 2024 (tax ID 08279909) with Artashes Tonoyan as General Director. Three days later the Republic of Armenia, represented by the Ministry of Economy, signed contract 166-24 “On the process of alienation of property” with the company as acquirer. That was 24 days before the public-interest decision was adopted, and the contract takes effect only with that decision. The company has to pay for the alienation from its own funds, start it within 24 months and hold the ministry harmless from damage caused by inadequate compensation or missed deadlines. The programme deadline is 31 December 2029, extended by the time spent on court disputes. Agreement 134-24 of 26 June 2024 narrowed that extension to disputes that materially obstruct the programme and deleted the chapter on state guarantees.
Decision 999-Ն declares overriding public interest over ≈13,200 m² next to Saryan 22
The government adopted decision 999-Ն to carry out the WTC programme, and it has been in force since 8 July 2024. It recognises overriding public interest over the non-state properties in a zone of about 13,200.54 m² between Saryan and Paronyan streets, next to Saryan 22. The list has 63 entries on Frik, 1st and 2nd Tapabashi, Kozerni, Sh. Rustaveli, Surb Hovhannes, Saryan and Paronyan streets. The decision also consents to the alienation of the state-owned plots inside the zone. World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC is the acquirer and had to start the alienation within 24 months of the decision's entry into force. The Saryan 22 parcel itself is not in the zone. The state's and Haypost's property there goes into the company's charter capital as an in-kind contribution.
Old houses in northern Kond, photographed in June 2024 near the Saryan 22 site. Government decision 999-Ն of 27 June 2024 declared overriding public interest over ≈13,200 m² of adjoining land and buildings on this edge of Kond.Dor Shabashewitz / Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 4.0 Saryan 22 businesses protest; Kond residents receive notices
More than 20 businesses selling and repairing phones on the ground floor of the Haypost building stayed on after the 19 August 2024 deadline Renshin had given them to leave, and protested outside. None of them had a lease with Haypost. As compensation they wanted other retail space in central Yerevan, not cash. Behind the building, Kond residents had received Ministry of Economy notices that their homes were in the “realisation zone”, but negotiations had not started.
The post office entrance at Saryan 22, inscribed «ՓՈՍՏԱՏՈՒՆ / ПОЧТАМТ» (“Post office”), September 2016. In August 2024, more than 20 phone shops on the building's ground floor stayed past the deadline to leave and protested outside.Armineaghayan / Wikimedia CommonsCC BY-SA 4.0 Colliers signs on to manage the project
WTC Yerevan CEO Artashes Tonoyan and Colliers signed a cooperation agreement in the presence of Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan. Colliers said in a release the next day that its Middle East project-management unit had won the end-to-end project-management mandate after a tender. It put the project's value at about USD 250 million.
First known Administrative Court challenge to decision 999-Ն
The Administrative Court received case ՎԴ/12980/05/24, a homeowner's claim against the government asking it to declare decision 999-Ն invalid as regards the house at 3/1 Frik Street. The claim cites the Civil Code and the law on alienation of property for overriding public interests. As of 25 October 2026 the public DataLex index shows no decision in the case.
Yerevan Council of Elders gives preliminary consent to demolish Saryan 22
Council decision 353-Ա, in force from 24 May 2025, gave preliminary consent under the environmental impact assessment law to the demolition of the building and structures at 22 Saryan Street that World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC had applied for. According to the draft decision, the first public hearing was held on 16 April 2025, and the interested public sent in no proposals, comments or opinions, either in writing or electronically.
The former Haypost headquarters and main post office at 22 Saryan Street, September 2016. The Yerevan Council of Elders gave preliminary consent to its demolition in May 2025, and dismantling was officially stated to have begun in October 2026.Armineaghayan / Wikimedia CommonsCC BY-SA 4.0 Kozerni Street resident challenges 999-Ն before a five-judge panel
A 62-year-old woman who has lived on Kozerni Street in Kond for 40 years asked the Administrative Court to invalidate decision 999-Ն as it applies to her property at 10/1 Kozerni Street. Hetq reported on 1 April 2026 that a panel of five judges was hearing the claim. We could not find the case in the public DataLex index as of 25 October 2026.
Kozerni (Hovhannes Kozern) Street in Kond, June 2024. Properties on this street are listed in decision 999-Ն, and a long-time resident has asked the Administrative Court to invalidate the decision as it applies to her house.Dor Shabashewitz / Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 4.0 Sources:HetqOwners start suing the project company in the Yerevan Civil Court
The first owner's suit against World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC in the Yerevan Civil Court was recorded on DataLex on 24 September 2025. It seeks compensation for a property on 1st Tapabashi Street. By July 2026 DataLex listed eight suits by owners against the company. Among other things they seek equivalent compensation, the annulment of a notice and the valuation reports attached to it, and recognition of ownership by acquisitive prescription.
Mayor orders the sale of community property in the zone to WTC Yerevan
Yerevan Mayor decision 4179-Ա ordered the direct sale to World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC of community-owned property at 20/2 Saryan Street, 47.3 m² of non-residential premises and a 52.27 m² plot, for AMD 49,105,000. That is the appraised market value of AMD 42.7 million plus the 15% the expropriation law adds as compensation. The decision lapses if the sale contract is not signed within 7 working days. We found no record that the contract was signed or the price paid.
WTC Yerevan files its first expropriation suits against owners
The company's earliest civil suit on DataLex, recorded on 15 October 2025, asks the Yerevan Civil Court to transfer a Frik Street property to it “to ensure the overriding public interest” for a stated compensation of AMD 281.9 million. Hetq reported that the company had been suing owners since September 2025 and that 21 such suits were pending as of April 2026, with the court placing the properties under attachment in every one of them. DataLex lists 27 cases brought by the company through 11 August 2026.
Government waives pre-emption on the first tranche of Haypost's shares
Decision 1525-Ա waived the state's pre-emptive right over 1,357,600 shares that Haypost holds in World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC. Under the founding agreement approved in April 2024, Haypost's 6,788,000 shares are to be sold to Renshin at nominal value in five equal stages tied to construction milestones. This was the first. The official justification published with the draft cites a shareholder agreement signed on 4 June 2024 by Renshin, the Republic of Armenia, the company and Haypost.
New law: court challenges no longer halt expropriations
Parliament adopted amendments (law ՀՕ-28-Ն, in force from 17 February 2026) under which challenging a public-interest decision or suing for compensation no longer stops the alienation or the registration of the acquirer's ownership. A companion change to the Administrative Procedure Code (ՀՕ-30-Ն), adopted the same day, still lets the Administrative Court suspend a decision where refusing a suspension could cause irreversible or severe consequences. A transitional rule allows the government to repeal older decisions such as 999-Ն, and declare the public interest again, for properties still not registered to the acquirer six months after the law took effect.
Hetq: Government has not filed the justification the court ordered; owners contest offers
Hetq reported that the government had not submitted the justification for decision 999-Ն that the Administrative Court had ordered it, on 2 February 2026, to file within one month in the Kozerni Street resident's case. According to the same report, the civil court had placed attachments on the properties in every suit the company had filed, and the resident had refused Renshin's offer of AMD 70,077,000 for her 90 m² of land. Twelve neighbouring families had sued over inadequate compensation. Owners' complaints about the appraisals to the Cadastre Committee's expert commission had mostly been upheld.
Sources:HetqCourt-approved settlements transfer property behind the post office to WTC Yerevan
A Yerevan Civil Court ruling of 7 May 2026 in case ԵԴ2/0699/02/26 approved a settlement under which a land plot listed as 4 Frik Street, behind the main post office building (since given the address 2/1 Frik Street), passed to World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC. That is how the Yerevan Mayor's address decision 2640-Ա of 22 May 2026 describes it. A second settlement, approved on 22 May 2026 in case ԵԴ2/0709/02/26, covered a pavilion on the same spot (now 2/3 Frik Street; Mayor decision 2883-Ա of 5 June 2026). Neither of the mayor's decisions gives the terms of the settlements.
Kozerni resident sues to annul the alienation contract; company sues corporate owners
The Kozerni Street resident's suit ԵԴ2/7577/02/26 was registered on DataLex on 1 July 2026. It asks the Yerevan Civil Court to annul alienation contract 166-24 of 3 June 2024 and names World Trade Center Yerevan CJSC and the Ministry of Economy as defendants. In July and August 2026 the company also sued companies that own property in the zone, among them Ardahan Construction LLC (AMD 739,105,000) and City Center Development CJSC (three suits), each time for a stated compensation sum.
Press reports preparations to demolish the Haypost building
301.am reported that preparatory work had begun on Saryan Street ahead of demolishing the former Haypost headquarters; on 19 August Golos Armenii reported the same and quoted Honoured Architect of Armenia Aslan Mkhitaryan arguing that the building could instead be reconstructed and integrated into the new complex. Neither report mentions a demolition permit.
Administrative Court closes a Frik Street owner's case after she withdraws it
The Administrative Court closed case ՎԴ/5591/05/25. The owner of a house at 3 Frik Street, a property listed in decision 999-Ն, had asked it to recognise that a relationship under the law on alienation of property for overriding public interests existed between her and the state. She withdrew the claim on 2 October 2026, so the court did not rule on the merits, and the act gives no reason for the withdrawal. The decision can be appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeal within one month of its publication, so it may not yet be final.
WTC Yerevan presented with a Foster + Partners design and USD 470 million in investment
PM Nikol Pashinyan attended the presentation of the project, where Foster + Partners presented details of the design and Pashinyan said: “Today, we are effectively talking about the tallest building in Yerevan's history.” The PM's office called it Armenia's largest public-private partnership project, with total investment of USD 470 million, and gave the shareholders as Renshin LLC (56%), Haypost CJSC (25%) and the Republic of Armenia (19%). A management agreement with Hyatt Hotels Corporation and a memorandum of cooperation with UK Export Finance on partial financing of the project were signed; no financing amount was disclosed.
Dismantling at Saryan 22 officially stated to have begun
The PM's office release on the presentation said dismantling of the buildings and structures at 22 Saryan Street, the former Haypost headquarters and main post office, had begun and was going well. We found no demolition permit or exact start date, and no demolition of Kond houses has been reported.
What to watch next (not confirmed yet)
- A construction permit and a state environmental expert conclusion for the towers. So far the only related approval on record is the Yerevan Council of Elders' preliminary consent, given in May 2025, to demolish the buildings at Saryan 22.
- Administrative Court rulings on the challenges to decision 999-Ն, and whether the government files the justification the court ordered on 2 February 2026.
- Judgments in the company's 27 civil suits over Kond properties and in the owners' suits, including the claim to annul alienation contract 166-24.
- Whether the government uses its power under the February 2026 law to repeal 999-Ն and declare the public interest again for properties not yet registered to the company. We found no such act on ARLIS as of 25 October 2026.
- A published act behind the 56/25/19 shareholding announced in October 2026, since the founding decision as amended still shows roughly 50/31/19. Also an explanation of why the announced investment went from about USD 212 million in 2023 to USD 470 million.
- The terms of the Hyatt management agreement and the UK Export Finance memorandum, including any financing amount. We found no statement from Hyatt or UK Export Finance.
- An official completion date, floor count and floor area, none of which has been published. The only fixed date is the contractual programme deadline of 31 December 2029, and court disputes can extend it.
- The two Soviet-era Kond tunnels under the site. No plans for them have been published.
New buildings near the site
New-build projects on sale, sorted by straight-line distance from the project site.
800 m from the site
Parajanov Club HouseHakob Paronyan 15/5from֏116,509,96243 m²
12.2026
43 m²Price per square meter: ֏1,625,720–2,709,534/m²
1.1 km from the site
Elizabeth ResidenceGevorg Emin 22from֏102,960,00088 m²
12.2024
88 m²Price per square meter: ֏1,170,000–1,235,000/m²
1.3 km from the site
Firdus Prime ResidenceKhanjyan 7/2from֏82,254,32944.7 m²
08.2028
44.7 m²
1.4 km from the site
AdanaHanrapetutyan 4612.2024
1.4 km from the site
Antara InnLeonid Azgaldyan 4/1from֏94,494,30085.13 m²
11.2024
85.13 m²Price per square meter: ֏1,110,000/m²
1.5 km from the site
Sophene Club HouseAghbyur Serob 2606.2026
1.5 km from the site
Forest residential complexAghbyur Serob 44 - 48from֏45,791,12550.7 m²
12.2024
50.7 m²Price per square meter: ֏903,178/m²
1.5 km from the site
Antarayin Residential ComplexRiga 126/8from֏68,024,00077.3 m²
09.2023
77.3 m²Price per square meter: ֏740,000/m²
Frequently asked questions
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.
