One Constitution Avenue to become five-star hotel, says Mohsin Naqvi
The government has taken back Islamabad's One Constitution Avenue tower to make it a hotel. What the JIT report alleges and what happens to buyers.
The federal government says Islamabad’s One Constitution Avenue, the tall apartment tower near Parliament, will be turned into a five-star hotel within months. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced it on Wednesday, 4 November, after the federal cabinet received a joint investigation team (JIT) report that alleges the project was built on rigged bidding and forged papers.
What the government announced
Naqvi said the government had regained possession of the building and planned to sign an agreement with a large hotel chain, adding that Islamabad has “a severe shortage of hotels”. The government cannot run a hotel itself, he said, so an international firm will first value the building. He said NAB had been ordered to act against those responsible, the residents’ committee had been dissolved, and a CDA member would now manage the tower.
On the people who bought flats there, Naqvi said: “As per JIT recommendations, we will try to make rightful payments to the occupants.”
What the JIT report alleges
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, at a separate press conference with Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, presented the findings. The JIT drew members from NAB, FIA, FBR, SECP, IB and ISI. According to the ministers and the report, it alleges that:
- The 13.5-acre plot was auctioned for a five-star hotel about two decades ago, but 254 units were sold as homes on 99-year sub-leases.
- The first auction was cancelled and limits on height, covered area and parking were relaxed without CDA board approval.
- A bank guarantee was withdrawn three days before the lease was signed, which benefited the developer.
- The signatures of two consortium members were forged, and one witness was abroad on the day the agreement was signed.
The report names former finance minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh as the alleged “mastermind” and recommends blacklisting him and the leaseholder company, M/s BNP (Pvt) Ltd, from public projects. It also names former CDA chairman Kamran Lashari and others as having allegedly acted with CDA officials. These are the JIT’s findings, not a court verdict; no case has been decided, and we found no public response from those named by Wednesday night.
How it got here
The CDA cancelled the lease after the developer defaulted on payments. The Islamabad High Court upheld that cancellation in April 2026, and residents were evicted in May, after which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif set up the JIT.
What happens next
The JIT wants the land and buildings re-auctioned openly, the project renamed (the Foreign Office objected to the address), buyers refunded their principal with KIBOR-linked interest or an inflation adjustment, and NAB to file a court reference within three months. Watch for that reference, and for how and when flat buyers are actually paid.
