Disputes over balconies, parking spaces, staircases, elevators, and decisions about hiring security personnel or janitors have begun to define Addis Abeba’s residential life as apartment owners, developers, and residents’ associations jostle over who controls common areas.

In some compounds, the initial owners act as administrators. In others, homeowners’ associations assume the role. Elsewhere, individual residents claim specific spaces. The overlapping claims have spilt into courtrooms, produced conflicting rulings and exposed how unsettled shared urban properties have become.

One such dispute reached the Cassation Bench of the Supreme Court, where justices ruled that the case did not merit their review.

Yet the refusal to hear it has done little to quiet a controversy beyond a single parking area. It has sharpened questions about who holds authority in apartment developments, how far formal contracts extend, and whether practice can override written title and administrative power.

The case pitted a property developer, Kunesnes Tek’e, against plaintiffs who own flats at Sina View Hotel & Apartments, a 19-unit building on Guinea Conakry Street in the Casanchis neighbourhood, which the defendant developed.

Filed in 2022 before the Federal First Instance Court’s Qirqos Bench, the legal battle was brought by Samson Mengistu, Dereje Fafu, Tsegenet Legesse, Abi Kibra, Elsabet Minda, Kibebetsehay Tekilie, Hiwote Abebe, Getu Kasayu and Yontatan Kasa, who his guardian, Yemisrach Negasi, represented. They sued Kunesnes, claiming that buying their apartments also entitled them to 195Sqm of parking space. They claimed Kunesnes blocked access to the area, and dug it up, leaving it unusable, and appealed to the Court to order her to stop "the interference" and pay two million Birr to restore the parking area.

Kunesnes rejected the claim. Her lawyers argued that the plaintiffs had no ownership rights over the parking lot and that the lease contracts, authenticated by the Documents Verification & Registration Service, granted them only proportional rights in the building’s common parts, corridors, staircases and lifts, but not in the parking area. She also claimed the excavation was part of a lawful plan to build a hotel on the land, work she carried out as the landholder.

The dispute arrived as life in Addis Abeba has gradually shifted. Living in condominiums, apartments and large real estate compounds is now routine. Official records show more than 200 real estate developers are active in the city, while over 3,000 developers have secured permits for new projects. Unofficial estimates put the number of formal private-sector apartment and real estate units at more than 200,000, with about 130 active developers.

Many residents say owning an apartment or condominium offers more security and convenience than owning a house on a plot of land. Rapid urban development and demolitions have also pushed buyers toward apartment living, often seen as more affordable. But the shift has come at a cost, such as more shared walls and common spaces, leading to growing disputes over who may use, manage, and alter them.

At the centre of the dispute between Kunesnes and the plaintiff is the property located adjacent to the Elili Hotel.