Ivanka Trump opened up about the $1.5 billion resort she and husband Jared Kushner are looking to build on a remote Albanian island.
The daughter of President Donald Trump was the most recent guest on David Senra’s Founders Podcast, where she discussed her various entrepreneurial pursuits, from real estate to her clothing line. She also gave more details on the Sazan Island project, which involves building a luxury resort with 10,000 hotel rooms and villas on the uninhabited land.
Sazan Island is one of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean. The 1,400-hectare (nearly 3,500-acre) island is now known as Ishulli i Trumpëve, or Trump Island, by locals.
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New details on Sazan Island project in Albania
Senra asked about the Sazan Island project, saying the couple is “building everything from scratch” as “there’s no power on the island.”
Ivanka recounted how she and her husband discovered the property. She said they were on a friend’s boat and stopped for a swim when they stumbled upon the island.
“We swam to the island, we went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated, and it’s stayed with us ever since,” she said. “Over the course of many years, we developed the opportunity to help realize its potential and transform it, but with a lot of restraint and care.”
Because the land is beautiful, she said they want the architecture to be cohesive with the natural surroundings. Ivanka noted that it will look as if the buildings almost “rise from” the land.
Sazan Island is one of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean -Credit:AFP via Getty Images
Along with Sazan Island, they have five miles of beachfront property with white sand beaches directly across from the land. It’s a peninsula with a lagoon on one side and the ocean on the other.
She said this project is a challenge for her and the culmination of all of her real estate experience and travel. The developers have hired “some of the greatest living architects of our time” to work on the project.
What is Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s Sazan Island project?
On December 30, 2024, the Albanian government gave preliminary approval to Trump and Kushner’s project, granting strategic investor status to Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, a company associated with Trump’s son-in-law.
“The projected investment of ‘Sazan Island Touristic Resort’ of 1.4 billion euros fulfils the criteria foreseen in the legislation on strategic investments,” read the government decision awarding the status.
“The projected investment fulfils the criteria on the number of jobs as requested by the legislation on strategic investments. During the development and operational parts of the investment, the employment of 1,000 people is foreseen,” the decision further stated.
POLITICO reported Monday that SPAK, Albania’s special anti-corruption prosecution office, has opened an investigation into the project. The organization is looking into changes to the area’s protected status in 2024 that opened the door for tourism development.
Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, unveiled the plans for the resort in August 2024.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama denied the project interferes with protected land while speaking with Albanian lawmakers on Monday. The final proposal has yet to be submitted, and an environmental study is not complete.