In recent days, public debate in Georgia has not subsided over the investment agreement signed with the Arab company Eagle Hills.
The investment agreement with Eagle Hills, under which development projects worth USD 6.6 billion are to be implemented in Tbilisi and Adjara, creating new residential and tourism infrastructure, has been classified as a commercial secret. Georgian Dream claims the project has no flaws and that classifying the contract is standard practice for investments of this scale.
Georgia is not the only country in Europe where Eagle Hills is planning, implementing, or negotiating investment projects. As it turns out, questions surrounding these investments have also been raised in other countries.
What Do We Know About Eagle Hills?
At the initial stage, spokespersons of Georgian Dream frequently stated that the Emaar Group was being brought to Georgia for the investment, although the final contract was signed with Eagle Hills.
Eagle Hills and Emaar are two different companies. Emaar Properties is a company founded in Dubai in 1997, with the Government of Dubai as its largest and most significant shareholder. Emaar Properties is known for Dubai’s iconic projects such as Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall.
Eagle Hills is also an Arab private real estate investment and development company, founded in 2014.
Eagle Hills and Emaar share the same founder and chairman Mohamed Alabbar. However, their ownership structures differ. According to media reports, Eagle Hills is primarily owned by Mohamed Alabbar himself; it is a private company whose shares are not traded on stock exchanges. Emaar, by contrast, is primarily owned by the Government of Dubai, and its shares are publicly traded on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). As a result, Emaar is required to publish detailed financial reports and information about its board of directors. Eagle Hills is not subject to the same obligations.
Eagle Hills is often described as an independent but related company to Emaar, established to carry out international projects, particularly in markets outside Emaar’s main focus area Dubai. Nevertheless, Eagle Hills also has projects within the United Arab Emirates, including in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
It was Mohamed Alabbar himself who opened Eagle Hills’ Georgia office on October 21 in Tbilisi, on Rustaveli Avenue, in the Cinema Rustaveli building.
Eagle Hills’ Global Presence
Eagle Hills has projects in numerous countries. Its portfolio includes multi-billion-dollar developments in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The company’s name is associated with countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Latvia, Albania, Hungary, Jordan, Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Ethiopia, Egypt, Bahrain, and others.
According to information published on Eagle Hills Properties’ official website, the company has projects in more than 18 countries. The website lists various ongoing or planned projects but does not specify which ones have been fully completed.
Accurate information about Eagle Hills’ completed projects is also difficult to find in other open sources. As noted, this is a relatively new company, founded about 10 years ago. However, there is information indicating that Eagle Hills has completed several facilities as part of major ongoing projects in different countries, including the UAE, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, and Serbia.
Eagle Hills’ Experience in Europe
Eagle Hills’ projects have sparked criticism and raised questions in several countries, and in some cases, projects ultimately failed to materialize.
One of the main reasons for criticism has been a “lack of transparency.” Critics in various countries also argue that such megaprojects put local infrastructure at risk and displace small businesses that cannot compete with global luxury brands.
In general, Eagle Hills’ core concept is that of a waterfront city, which it applies in nearly all of its projects. This involves creating large-scale, multifunctional urban developments on waterfront areas (along rivers, lakes, or seas). This concept is Eagle Hills’ signature style and focuses not merely on construction, but on creating high-end urban centers.
Serbia
One of the most controversial projects implemented by Eagle Hills is the Belgrade Waterfront. The value of the Belgrade project is USD 3 billion. The Serbian government leased the land designated for the project to Eagle Hills for 99 years. Eagle Hills owns 68% of the business, while the Serbian government holds a 32% stake.
The project began in 2015 and was criticized in Serbia for opaque planning, exclusion of public participation, and the transfer of state land to foreign developers, which led to large-scale protests. Tensions escalated particularly after masked individuals demolished buildings overnight in Belgrade’s Savamala district in 2016. A civic movement, “Don’t Let Belgrade Drown,” was formed in opposition to the project and led major protests in the city.
Despite this, Belgrade Waterfront is considered the most successful of Eagle Hills’ projects, as several buildings have already been constructed.
At this stage, the Belgrade Waterfront project includes 14 completed buildings, the 168-meter-high Kula Belgrade skyscraper, a 1.8 km pedestrian boulevard, and a 2.7-hectare park. Under the agreement, half of the project is to be completed within 20 years.
Montenegro
Eagle Hills also triggered discontent in Montenegro with the Velika Plaža (Long Beach) project. The contract between the Montenegrin government and Eagle Hills was initially signed in 2017. However, local residents strongly opposed leasing the coastline to the investor for 90 years. The project caused public outrage due to “non-transparent procedures.” The influential watchdog organization MANS stated that “state land is being sold or leased through direct agreements behind closed doors, creating enormous opportunities for corruption.”
Ultimately, following strong public and local protests, the company abandoned the initial project in Montenegro. The beaches won in tenders were returned to local entrepreneurs. In 2021, the Montenegrin government, at the initiative of the prime minister, unilaterally terminated the contract with Eagle Hills, citing the company’s failure to deliver promised investments and launch the project. After the termination, development rights for the area were transferred to another international developer.
Eagle Hills later shifted its focus in Montenegro and in October 2025 presented a new large-scale ecotourism project Eagle Hills Ecovillage Shas.
Albania
In 2022, Eagle Hills signed a memorandum to implement the Durres Yachts and Marina project in Albania. The project involves transforming Albania’s largest port in the city of Durrës and envisages the construction of residential spaces and services over an area of 80.9 hectares.
According to the local outlet Exit, the project is valued at USD 2 billion. Eagle Hills holds 67% of the shares, while the Albanian side holds 33%. The project has been granted strategic investment status for 20 years. The Albanian side contributed land to the project, where the Durrës Marina residential complex will be built. In total, nearly 13,000 apartments are planned (4,000 in the first phase and approximately 8,600 in the second).
Local media report that, in addition to providing land, the Albanian government will exempt the company from infrastructure impact fees and contributions to the social housing fund.
According to media reports, only a small portion of the project will be financed by the main investor, Mohamed Alabbar. Most of the residential complex is expected to be financed through pre-sales of apartments, as well as other sources such as bank financing.
Under the agreement, the existing port infrastructure will remain state property, while maintenance of the tourism section, new investments, costs, and services will be the responsibility of Eagle Hills.
According to Albanian outlet Hashtag, apartment sales were announced at the end of 2022. Since then, the company has repeatedly launched sales of different buildings, with prices steadily increasing and exceeding EUR 3,000 per square meter, compared to initial prices of EUR 1,500–1,600.
Currently, the first three buildings of the project are under construction.
Local media note that despite benefiting from tax incentives, including exemptions from infrastructure fees, and receiving large plots of land free of charge, the investor raised funds in its first two years solely through the sale of apartments under construction.
“The company presented itself as an investor, but it turns out that it raises funds from advance payments by buyers, which, according to the report, represent ‘a significant financing component.’ In general, the company receives long-term advance payments from customers. According to the company’s conclusion, these contracts contain a substantial financing component,” local media write.
Hungary
At the beginning of 2025, Eagle Hills signed a EUR 12 billion contract to implement the Grand Budapest project on an abandoned railway site near Hungary’s capital. The project, dubbed “Mini-Dubai,” envisaged skyscrapers exempt from local construction codes. The project was supported by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
However, the deal was sharply criticized by Budapest’s opposition mayor, Gergely Karácsony, and urban planners, who described the agreement with Eagle Hills as “scandalous and suspiciously backroom.” They condemned exempting the project from local construction regulations, calling it an undermining of the city’s rules.
Budapest’s mayor urged the Orbán government to prioritize affordable housing over luxury real estate developments.
As a result, the capital, which aims to create an affordable, green residential zone on the site, exercised its pre-emption right to purchase the land. Following legal and political resistance, Eagle Hills’ Grand Budapest project ultimately collapsed.
Latvia
In 2024, Eagle Hills signed a memorandum with the Riga City Council to implement the Riga Waterfront project. The investment exceeds EUR 3 billion. The project envisages the development of a multifunctional urban center on the banks of the Daugava River, on the site of a former industrial port. The company plans to develop a multifunctional area across 57 hectares, adding more than 6,500 apartments to Riga. The planned developments are to be implemented over the next 10–15 years, in multiple phases, the first of which has already begun.
Shortly after the memorandum was signed, the project raised concerns within the Riga municipality regarding the developer’s actions and the project’s scale.
Riga City Council stated that Eagle Hills’ proposed vision did not align with the concept initially agreed in the memorandum of cooperation, nor with the city’s current spatial plan. Concerns focused on overly dense development and the proposed building heights, which were deemed unacceptable or inconsistent with planning documents.
Eagle Hills was also criticized for “unilateral actions,” such as launching public campaigns and advertising without the necessary permits.
“The Riga municipality emphasized that it agreed to the memorandum of cooperation with Eagle Hills in good faith, assuming the developer would comply with its terms and appreciating the investor’s intention to develop the area. However, the developer’s current actions demonstrate unilateral behavior that is unacceptable for the city,” the Riga City Council stated in June 2024.
Despite these concerns and the possibility of terminating the memorandum, the project is currently still ongoing.
Croatia
Eagle Hills was unable to complete its vision in Zagreb, where the new mayor halted his predecessor’s ambitious “Zagreb Manhattan” project, which aimed to create a Manhattan-style skyline along the banks of the Sava River in the Croatian capital.
In 2019, under then-mayor Milan Bandić, the Zagreb City Council signed a memorandum with Eagle Hills to implement a “city within a city” project on approximately 1.1 million square meters of land. The goal was to create a self-contained “mini-city” with its own infrastructure. Supporters argued it would bring new public spaces and economic growth.
However, architects and urban planners strongly criticized the project for conflicting with the city’s general urban plan and disrupting Zagreb’s urban development. It was also criticized for the lack of transparent and comprehensive public consultation, the exclusion of residents, and insufficient consideration of the public interest.
There were also suspicions of corruption, as then-mayor Milan Bandić had previously been convicted on corruption charges.
After Tomislav Tomašević became mayor, the Zagreb City Council amended the city’s general urban plan in 2023, declaring the implementation of the “Zagreb Manhattan” project impossible.
“A playground for billionaires, where apartments are built for millionaires,” Tomašević described the project.
Moreover, the Zagreb mayor publicly supported his Budapest counterpart in opposing Eagle Hills’ project there.
“We had the same fight you are having in Budapest, and we won so you can do it too,” Tomašević said during the campaign against Eagle Hills’ Budapest project.
Despite the cancellation of the Zagreb Manhattan plan, Eagle Hills remains active in Croatia’s real estate and hotel sectors. The company has made significant investments in tourism and owns a 70% stake in Sunce Hoteli, which operates 11 hotels along the Adriatic coast under the Bluesun brand. Eagle Hills has also reached an agreement with another major hotel company, Sunčani Hvar.
Eagle Hills in Georgia
According to publicly available information, Eagle Hills plans to implement projects worth a total of USD 6.6 billion in Tbilisi and Adjara, involving the creation of new residential and tourism infrastructure.
Representatives of the Georgian Dream government state that under the agreement, the state will own 33% of Eagle Hills’ Georgian subsidiary. They say that “the state contributes to the project with 260 hectares of land in Gonio and 590 hectares near Tbilisi, while the investor is responsible for preparing the architectural design and raising the capital needed for implementation.”
The Eagle Hills project in Tbilisi will be called Tbilisi Waterfront. It is planned along the Rustavi-Tbilisi highway, in the areas of Aghtaklia and Ponichala, and includes land from the Krtsanisi forest park. Eagle Hills plans to develop residential complexes, commercial spaces, hotels, and recreational zones there.
As for Gonio, Eagle Hills’ project will be located at the mouth of the Chorokhi River, on the site of a former military training ground. The company plans to create an artificial bay in Gonio, where the Gonio Yacht Club and marina will be built.