YEREVAN, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. "After completion of Northern Avenue we'll have the most modern district of Yerevan," Mayor of Yerevan Ervand Zakharian stated during the opening ceremony of Northern Avenue's first section on May 29. In his words, Northern Avenue designed for pedestrain traffic combines the best ideas that the great architect Alezander Tamanian had 50 years ago and the requirements of modern urban development. Northern Avenue that occupies a 8-ha area and is 450 meters in length links Freedom Square (designed by A. Tamanian) with its Opera House with Republic Square where the Governmental buildings are located. Parking lots for a thousand cars will be built in the underground section of Northern Avenue. There will be 25-27 building complexes of residential-business type on Northern Avenue. Former chief architect of Yerevan Narek Sargsian is the chief architect of the project on construction of Northern Avenue. Mayor of Yerevan attached importance to the participation of the Armenian-Russian joint venture North Island in construction of Northern Avenue. The Russian shareholder of the company is the Makarius Group. According to Director General of Makarius Group Gitas Anilionis, many apartments and offices of Northern Avenue's first section have already been sold. E. Zakharian said that an area of about 13 thousand sq.m. in two completed buildings of Northern Avenue has been delivered for operation. Construction of the other two sections will finish by late 2007. Investments of 200-250 mln USD will be made in construction of Northern Avenue.

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