Trump Tower Tbilisi project kicks off in Georgia, backed by Archi Group, other partners

The Trump Tower Tbilisi project, the Trump brand's first luxury tower in the Caucasus, was launched in Tbilisi on Tuesday with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in attendance.

Some 1,000 carefully selected guests were invited to the event, which was held under heavy security. The cost of the extravagant launch, which culminated in fireworks and dozens of drones forming the US flag and the Statue of Liberty over the Tbilisi skyline, was estimated at $1 million.

That is a relatively small sum compared with the project's total investment of approximately $2 billion and the roughly 600,000-square-meter complex planned for the site.

The development will include six towers, with Trump Tower as the first and central building. The tower is planned to rise approximately 280 meters and contain 65 floors. Around it, a new district will be built in central Tbilisi, including luxury hotels, branded towers, a business center, and high-end retail space.

Benish founded the company in 2006 with Ilia Tsulaia and Irakli Kapianidze. The Israeli connection to the company, one of Georgia's dominant developers, was highlighted during the ceremony.

Last year, Israelis invested about $200 million the buy around 2,000 apartments in Georgia, 500 of them from Archi. The current project, however, represents a significant step up for the 20-year-old company, as well as for the city and the country.

Israel's Ambassador to Georgia Walid Abu Haya also attended Tuesday's event. In recent weeks, he has taken part in a series of meetings with senior Georgian officials in which the desire to expand foreign and Israeli investment, including in real estate, was emphasized.

At the beginning of the month, he also participated in a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Michel Buskila and the mayor of Tbilisi on Israeli investment, protections for those investments, tourism, and strengthening economic ties.

According to a Georgian report, Buskila said there was "great interest from Israel in investments" in Georgia.

Kobakhidze described the project's launch as "a historic day for Tbilisi and Georgia," saying the planned Trump Tower would change the capital's skyline and strengthen its status as an international urban, tourism, and economic center.

According to the prime minister, the project is expected to create thousands of jobs and boost the construction, tourism, and service sectors.

Under the timetable presented by Kobakhidze, Trump Tower itself is expected to open in 2031, while completion of the entire district is planned for 2033.

The prime minister said the involvement of the Trump Organization and US-based international architecture firm Gensler, one of the world's largest and most prominent architecture and design firms, signaled confidence in the Georgian economy and the country's position as a business bridge between Europe and Asia.

Gensler, headquartered in San Francisco, employs about 6,500 people and works on projects in more than 100 countries, specializing in skyscrapers, large-scale developments, offices, hospitality, and retail.

Georgia's Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili described the development as "a new calling card for Tbilisi."

According to Kvrivishvili, it is more than a real estate project.

"This is an expression of confidence in the Georgian economy, its stability, and its long-term growth prospects," she said.

Kvrivishvili also presented macroeconomic data for Georgia, a country with a population of approximately 3.9 million, about one-third of whom, or some 1.3 million people, live in Tbilisi.

According to her, Georgia's economy grew at an average annual rate of 9.7% from 2021 through 2025, while growth was 7.9% in the first half of 2026.

The economy reached approximately $38 billion in 2025, GDP per capita stood at about $10,300, and foreign direct investment since 2021 totaled nearly $10 billion, she said.

According to Kvrivishvili, the real estate and construction sectors account for more than 15% of the country's economy.

Ilia Tsulaia, a founding partner of Archi and chairman of its supervisory board, described Trump Tower Tbilisi as "a bridge between today's reality and tomorrow's market" and a major step forward for Georgia's real estate sector.

For years, he said, developers were told that an international project on such a scale might be appropriate for Georgia in another five or 10 years.

"We could have waited another five or 10 years, but we decided that Georgia's and Tbilisi's time is now," he said.

Tsulaia also linked the decision to proceed with the project to the performance of the local economy and rising real estate prices.

According to him, the growth of the Georgian economy and the strengthening of the property market gave the partners the confidence to undertake a project of this scale.

He specifically thanked Israeli partner Benish, as well as Eric Trump. Tsulaia said Trump's enthusiasm for and confidence in Georgia during their first meeting were among the factors that pushed the partners the decide and sign the deal.

Tsulaia said the ambition was to place Tbilisi alongside cities where the Trump name has already become part of the skyline, including New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Miami.

The Trump brand has operated for decades in the luxury real estate market and appears on residential, hospitality, and golf projects in the US and other countries. Tbilisi marks the brand's first entry into the Caucasus.

Security considerations were cited as the reason.

Instead, he joined the event by video and answered questions prepared in advance.

Trump said that, from the Trump Organization's perspective, the Tbilisi project was based on three central conditions: the best location, the right partners, and the right timing.

He said the timing was directly connected to Georgia's current position, its rate of growth, and Tbilisi's development.

He said the initiative began with a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where he met the developers and discussions about the project began.

He noted that, symbolically, both are 65-story residential towers overlooking their respective city's Central Parks.

Trump also referred to his father, saying he had spoken with him about Georgia that morning.

According to Eric Trump, the president loves Georgia and the Georgian people and values relations between the two countries.

Eric Trump said there are already about 30 Trump-branded projects around the world, a figure he presented during the event, but repeatedly emphasized a special commitment to the new project.

The company's ambition, he said, was for it to be the best not only in Georgia, but by global standards.

Eric is the son of Donald Trump and his first wife, Ivana Trump, and the brother of Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump.

The president has two other children: Tiffany Trump, his daughter from his marriage to Marla Maples, and Barron Trump, his son with First Lady Melania Trump.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. currently play central roles in managing the Trump Organization's real estate and development businesses.

The organization was also represented at the event by Lawrence Jay Glick, executive vice president for development.

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, Invia founder and CEO Levan Pkhakadze, and Gensler's Robert Jackel also attended.

"We spent a long time looking for a brand, and we secured the most prestigious brand in residential real estate. It's an incredible achievement for the company and for me personally, as someone who was born here and can now bring this partnership, which is an important achievement for Georgia," Benish told Walla Money on Tuesday.

Benish said the project's American partners also chose the work with Gensler.

From their perspective, he said, architecture and planning are inseparable from the brand's standards and from the effort to place the tower alongside international luxury developments.

Benish presented Tbilisi as a market already attracting international investors and global brands, but one that, he said, still offers significantly lower entry prices than luxury markets such as Dubai.

According to him, prices for buyers in the Trump project are around $7,000 per square meter.

At that rate, a 50-square-meter apartment would cost about $350,000, and he estimated it could rent for about $2,000 to $2,500 per month.

After management fees, maintenance, and other expenses, he estimated an investor could be left with about $2,000 net per month, for an annual return of around 7%.

This is, of course, the developer's estimate and not a guaranteed return.

Benish compared that price with approximately $22,000 to $23,000 per square meter in branded luxury developments in Dubai.

In Tel Aviv, he said, prices can reach $50,000 per square meter or more, while Israel still has no comparable branded project.

In his view, that gap is central to Tbilisi's potential for appreciation.

The tower's target market is expected to be distinctly international.

He estimates that Israelis could account for about 10% to 15% of buyers in the project. Archi is already highly familiar with that market.

Benish expects investors from the UAE to be among the largest buyer groups.

He said that one of the project's first buyers, a Jewish buyer from France, has already purchased two apartments in a deal worth approximately $1.8 million.

The Trump name carries significant weight in marketing the project.

The Trump Organization provides the name, brand, and standards, while the project's developers and partners carry out the development.

Trump representatives are involved in planning, branding, and setting standards, while members of the Trump family themselves promote the group's international real estate activity.

Archi does not operate only in the luxury market or in branded developments.

The company has operated in Georgia for two decades and develops residential, commercial, and lifestyle projects throughout the country.

In Tbilisi's Didi Dighomi neighborhood, for example, the company is building large-scale residential developments, including a complex of four buildings containing approximately 1,000 apartments.

The apartments begin at around 55 square meters, and Benish said prices in projects of this kind range from approximately $1,300 to $1,400 per square meter, less than one-fifth of the price in the Trump project.

Some apartments in those developments are rented by foreigners who relocated to Tbilisi.

The gap between $1,300 to $1,400 per square meter in Didi Dighomi and approximately $7,000 in Trump Tower illustrates the two ends of Archi's business: large-scale residential construction on one side, and branded luxury products aimed at international capital on the other.

Benish's own story connects Israel and Georgia.

He was born in Georgia and immigrated to Israel at age 10. He continues to work on Georgia-Israel relations and to leverage his dual national and bilingual background.

"Where I have a comparative advantage, where my money, knowledge, and experience are worth more, that is where I want to operate," he said.

Benish stressed that Israeli entrepreneurs who come to Georgia and try to run a business exactly as they are accustomed to doing in Israel may encounter difficulties.

According to him, the local business culture is different, and the ability to work with local partners and understand the mentality is critical.

Nevertheless, he recommends that Israelis consider business activity in the country, particularly in real estate.

In his view, the combination of economic growth, property prices that remain low relative to international markets, and the continued arrival of global brands represents an opportunity.

"I invite any Israeli to come consult with me and hear from the familiarity and experience I have accumulated. I have been doing this without compensation for years," he said.

For all those involved, including Benish, Tsulaia, and Archi, Trump Tower is not simply another project.

It is a test of whether Tbilisi can be repriced in the eyes of foreign investors and elevated from an emerging real estate market into the league of international luxury cities.

They are determined to pass that test with distinction.

Despite its name, Trump Tower Tbilisi is not owned by Donald Trump or the Trump Organization.

According to the legal disclaimer on the official website, Central Park Icon LLC owns and developed the property, while DT Marks Tbilisi LLC licensed the TRUMP name to the project.

Archi and Invia are the principal developers of the Downtown Tbilisi complex, and Trump Tower is being developed in cooperation with the Trump Organization.

For the Trump Organization, the project continues a model in which it expands its international activity primarily by licensing its brand to locally developed projects.

For the Georgian developers, the value of the Trump name is clear: attracting foreign buyers and bringing Tbilisi into the market for international luxury developments.

The project is being offered to buyers with 20% paid in cash followed by 60 interest-free, non-indexed installments, with a full bank guarantee.

In Georgia, the Trump Tower Tbilisi launch was met with considerable enthusiasm by media outlets aligned with the government, which presented the project as an expression of international confidence in the local economy and a new symbol of the capital's ambitions.

Independent and critical media, however, also highlighted the political dimension of the deal and the connection it creates between Georgia's leadership and the Trump family, alongside questions about who stands to benefit from it.

Some highlighted Benish's comments that only a minority of apartment buyers are expected to be Georgian and that the development is primarily aimed at an international clientele, raising a question alongside the official celebrations over the extent to which the luxury tower is actually intended for the local public.