Court Freezes Noah Flats as Buyers Open Second Front

Aug 1 , 2026. By NAHOM AYELE ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

Judges at the Federal High Court have frozen the sale or transfer of 27 apartments at Noah Victory Apartments for one month, giving a group of homebuyers time to prepare a lawsuit against Noah Real Estate Plc. The buyers had asked for two months, a period the judges called “too long.” The buyers sought the freeze before filing suit, alleging Noah Real Estate had been showing the disputed units to prospective buyers and arranging advance sales.

Judges at the Federal High Court have ordered that 27 apartments at Noah Victory Apartment, near Women Square, remain held. For one month, none can be sold, exchanged, or transferred to anyone else, giving a group of homebuyers time to prepare a lawsuit against Noah Real Estate Plc.

The freeze opens a second legal front at the Aware development. Six other buyers are already suing the developer. The new order signals that the fight over who owns the finished flats, and at what price, is widening.

The order came last week on an application filed under Dawit Teklehaymanot, a captain. The 27 plaintiffs had asked for two months to organise their documents and prepare a full statement of claim.

The Judges - Lema Tuji, Fasika Daghe and Meserete Abera of the Lideta Division Bench for Construction cases, called that request "too long." Weighing the number of plaintiffs, the files to be assembled and the tangle of the dispute, the Bench settled on one month.

Their order bars the apartments from being sold, exchanged, transferred or otherwise passed to third parties.

The buyers moved for the injunction before filing suit for a reason. According to their application filed before the Court, Noah Real Estate has been “showing the disputed units to prospective buyers and arranging advance sales.” They read that as an intent to "dispose" of the properties and "transfer" them to third parties before the case reaches trial.

The plaintiffs also accused the developer of "unilaterally cancelling their contracts" and preparing to resell. Their planned lawsuit is to compel Noah Real Estate to hand over the flats without further payment.

The dispute traces back to a missed deadline. According to the application, the developer failed to deliver within the agreed 36-month build period. The buyers waited another 36 months, they say, only to be told they owed more before they could take ownership of homes they believed they had already bought in full.

The plaintiffs argue the developer cannot charge more based on larger registered apartment sizes created by folding common areas into the title deeds. The original contracts fixed the size and price of each unit, they maintain, leaving no basis for further charges.

The delay, the buyers claim, caused "substantial financial loss and damage." Had the flats arrived on time, they argue, they could have lived in them or earned income through rent. Instead, they argued, they have gone years without housing or rental income while facing demands for more money before ownership can pass. Inspections, they claim, revealed “incomplete work, construction flaws and finishing defects,” at odds with the developer's description of the units as complete and ready to hand over.

The earlier suit runs on the same fault line. Six homebuyers of the Noah Victory site told the Court they paid in full but never received their apartments, because the developer sought more money on enlarged registered sizes. According to these plaintiffs, the Land Development Bureau “folded balconies, parking spaces, corridors, elevators” and other shared facilities into the measurements.

According to the plaintiffs, the increases came from no added construction and cannot justify further charges. They appealed for the Court to order handover of title deeds, settled property obligations, working utilities and damages for the delay.

Lawyers representing Noah Real Estate rejected the claims as "baseless." According to the company, the contracts allow adjustments under a 10pc tolerance clause. They argued that the larger measurements came from the government's land-registration method, not a company decision.

Noah Real Estate operates under Z Plc, incorporated in 1995 by Zerihun Lakew and his family. Tewodros Zerihun, one of the founder's sons, runs the company as a chief executive officer (CEO).

The Group reaches beyond property, owning Great Abyssinia, a consumer-goods company behind Abyssinia Coffee, Abyssinia Bottled Water and Prigat Juice, as well as Yekatit Paper Converting & Cool Manufacturing. The family has also long been tied to the Zerihun Building on Haile Gebresellasie Road, near 22-Mazoria, a complex on a 2,400Sqm plot now being rebuilt.

The Court sent the dispute to mediation. That process failed, and the case has moved to a hearing.

The disputed homes stand at Noah Victory Apartment across Women's Square, a roundabout in Aware neighbourhood. The development occupies 1,850Sqm and rises as a 19-storey residential tower within Noah Real Estate's wider Addis Abeba portfolio.

Construction began six years ago against an initial three-year timeline. Last May, the developer claimed 1,341 buyers and business owners had received keys across its Noah Asqual (Enqulal Fabrika) and Noah Victory (Se'toch Adebabay) projects. The 27 plaintiffs were not among them.

PUBLISHED ON Aug 01,2026 [ VOL 27 , NO 1370]