Future of Basilia City Potentially at Stake

Basilia City faces an uncertain future after the fall of the Assad regime. Rumours that the Damascus Governorate has temporarily suspended work on the project have sparked a debate among rights holders in social media with some calling to cancel the decree that established the Basilia City project, and others suggesting to amend it.

Decree No. 66 of 2012 established two zoned real estate areas in Damascus: Marota City and Basilia City (located south of the Southern Ring Road). These two projects embody the housing, land and property violations’ conundrum in Syria.

The Damascus Governorate manages both areas through the Directorate for Implementing Decree No. 66 and through Damascus Cham Holding, a company affiliated with the governorate. A large number of committees worked on implementing the provisions of Decree No. 66 in Basilia during the previous regime, and the results of their work were successively issued as decisions by the Damascus Governorate from 2021 onwards.

Despite recent rumours of a suspension or halt in work on Basilia City, the Damascus Governorate has not published any official circular or decision on its official channels. However, reports circulating in planning-related social media groups indicate that the project’s implementation has been put on hold. There are also discussions about the governorate’s intention to form a committee of local residents and experts to review and reconsider the project to ensure justice for property owners and restore their rights. 

This proposed committee would not be the same as the specialised committee formed under Damascus Governor’s Circular No. 2559 on February 8, 2025, which is tasked with reviewing applications submitted to the governorate’s directorates and handling complaints related to legal procedures, violations, and planning issues. Nor would it be the same as the committee designated by the Damascus Governorate under Notice No. 1692 on February 12, 2025 to receive complaints related to properties at risk of seizure.

In a related development, the Damascus Governorate issued Decision No. 33 on January 14, appointing engineer Ibrahim Hanano to issue directives and instructions on its behalf, overseeing the work of the Decree No. 66 Directorate and Damascus Cham Holding. The decision was based on the provisions of the Basic Law for State Employees No. 50 of 2004 and its amendments, as well as the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 66 of 2012. However, a month after the decision, no information has been made available regarding Mr Hanano or his previous positions.

Alongside the difficulties some property owners face in proving ownership due to persecution and restrictions on opposition figures by the various security services, the Basilia City project has faced widespread criticism over the unfair valuation of land and shares. Properties in the area of Basilia are considered to be largely undervalued under Decree No. 66. One of the most controversial points is the disregard for the aerial space of properties, as the value of vertical construction has not been considered in share distribution, even though projects like Marota City and Basilia City rely on high-rise residential towers. If a person owned a 50-square-metre plot of land and a 20-storey tower was built on the same site, the resulting built-up area would be 1,000 square metres of aerial space – a significant real estate value that the original owner has received no compensation for. This omission has led many residents to view Decree No. 66 as merely a means of expropriating their properties without fair compensation.

Amid ongoing debate, two main approaches have emerged for dealing with the Basilia City project. The first is the repeal of Decree No. 66 on the grounds that it was issued under the previous regime as a means to punish certain pro-opposition areas, impose socio-political restructuring for security and economic purposes, and seize the property of displaced persons. 

However, this approach does not address how to deal with the realities created by the Damascus Governorate under the previous regime, given that significant progress has already been made in the zoning process for Basilia City. The latest of these developments was the commencement of residential plot allocations in August 2024. Before that, the Decree No. 66 Implementation Directorate had already issued ownership deeds for zoning shares in Basilia to around half of the rights holders.

Under Decree No. 66, property ownership was restructured into joint zoning shares, meaning that rights holders became shareholders in the entire zoned real estate area rather than retaining direct ownership of their original properties. Therefore, repealing the decree would necessitate redistributing ownership, raising challenges regarding the fate of zoning shares, ongoing allocations, and compensation for those who purchased shares under the current system. However, these aspects remain unresolved, making any decision regarding Decree No. 66 contingent on establishing clear mechanisms to address its legal and economic consequences.

The second approach is to amend Decree No. 66 to better protect the rights of original property owners, especially those who are absent or displaced and were unable to appoint representatives due to security concerns, leading to the confiscation of their properties. This proposal also calls for reducing the governorate’s share of the zoning shares and re-evaluating the par value of zoning shares to better reflect their true worth.

In both cases, the proposed solutions face major challenges, chief among them the fact that property ownership structures have changed with the conversion of land into tradable shares. This means that any amendments could harm the rights of certain property owners, new investors, old investors, or all parties involved.