One Constitution Avenue to Be Re-tendered and Turned into Five-Star Hotel

Islamabad: The government has decided to re-tender and redesign the controversial One Constitution Avenue project in the capital, and its business model will also be changed, officials said.

Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, speaking at a press conference alongside Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, said the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had identified the initial agreement and the government officials linked to it. He said the report also recommended protection for those who bought flats or invested using legitimate income. The federal cabinet has endorsed the report.

According to Tarar, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is expected to complete its inquiry within the next three months, after which court proceedings will begin.

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the government has taken possession of the building and will convert it into a five-star hotel in line with the original concept.

According to BBC Urdu, the JIT report states that Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and some officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) at the time were involved in irregularities. The report says a five-star hotel in the Red Zone was approved in 1997, and in 2004, under Pervez Musharraf’s government, CDA chairman Kamran Lashari began implementing it. Later, work started to build apartments instead of a hotel on 13.5 acres of land.

The report says the CDA approved 120 apartments in two towers, but after changes to official documents, 254 apartments were built and a total of Rs9.5 billion was collected from owners. The agreement stated that ownership of the land would remain with the CDA until full payment was made.

In 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the company to pay Rs17 billion to the CDA. When the payment was not made, the CDA cancelled the lease in 2023, and the Supreme Court upheld that cancellation in 2026.