Jared Kushner gets the green light on his $1.4 billion luxury hotel project in Albania

Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump have been given the go-ahead for their $1.4 billion luxury hotel project in Albania.

The Albanian government has given its preliminary approval to a plan put forward by President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law, according to The New York Times. The project involves building a luxury hotel complex at a small abandoned military base off the Albanian coast.

The proposal is just one of a number connected to Trump and his family, which involves foreign governments as the family returns to the White House. Jared and Ivanka have both said they will not take official roles in the administration - but the son-in-law will advise Donald Trump on Middle East issues, according to reports.

Albania’s Strategic Investment Committee, which approved the project, is headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama and hands Kushner and his associates the right to proceed with negotiations to build the resort on 111 acres on the island of Sazan. The island will be connected to the coast via ferry.

When previously asked about the projects, both the Albanian government and Kushner have said that the project is not influenced by Kushner’s connection to Trump or is an attempt to get favors from the the U.S., according to The Times.

“The fact that such a renowned American entrepreneur shows his interest on investing in Albania makes us very proud and happy,” a spokesperson for Rama told the paper last year.

Virginia Canter, a White House ethics attorney during the Clinton and Obama administrations, told The Times that any government deal with the Trump family gives the impression that there’s an effort to gain influence with the president-elect.

“It all looks like favoritism like they are providing access to Kushner because they want to be on the good side of Trump,” Canter told the paper.

Albanian natives were quick to voice their concerns about the proposed deal in exclusive interviews with The Independent in the fall about the proposal.

Arben Kola, a freelance Albanian tour guide, told of her fears over the selection and building of “Trump’s villas.”

“Some of the public is blind to the danger these developments bring, people in Vlore don’t want to talk about this out of fear,” He told The Independent. They can’t raise concerns out of fear of losing their businesses.

“The way tourism works for Sazan at the moment is it helps to preserve nature, not damage it. We shouldn’t change that.”

However, Brunilda Licaj, a lecturer in tourism at the Aleksander Moisiu University, welcomed the proposal.

“It’s a good idea for Vlore; it’s a beautiful project. It’s a development for the future. It’s a positive for Albanian people, it is bringing a new sort of tourism to the country and with it new income for the local people,” she said.

Kushner’s private equity company, Affinity Partners, is supported by about $4.6 billion from Saudi Arabia and other sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East. The company is working on the project in Albania along with real estate executive Asher Abehsera, whom Kushner has previously worked with on projects in Brooklyn.

A document recently shared online reveals that the Albanian government will work with its U.S. partners to remove any possible buried munitions from the proposed site for the hotel and that it will look into any other potential legal or environmental concerns.

But the document, which is dated December 30, also states that the government “has the right to revoke the decision,” following the final negotiations for the project.

Affinity Partners has said that they are planning to build a five-star “eco-resort community” and that they will convert a “former military base into a vibrant international destination for hospitality and wellness.”